Gender quotas or girls’ networks? Towards an understanding of recruitment in the research profession in Italy

This article investigates the role of the gender composition of selection committees and the role of connections in promoting women in research activities. Exploitinga newly collected data set on recruitment processes toentry-level research positions in a leading Italian research centre operatingmainlyinthe hard sciences, the study findsthatbias against women manifests itself at non-tenured entry level and is attenuated by the presence of a woman on the selection committee.However, the most important predictor for recruitmentin the studyis previous connections with the research centre, a mechanismwhich, due the lower density of network links with the institute among female candidates, operates as a selection device discriminating against women. The results suggest that genderof the committee members, network structure and type of recruitment must all be taken into account in approaching recruitment policy and thatvery early stages of scientific careersare crucial for addressing gender biasin research.