Gender equity has still not been realised, despite decades of activism, policy and research. In some of the social sciences women make up less than 15 per cent of the professoriate. Yet these are the disciplines that should most aid our understanding of how gender works in society. Gendered Excellence in the Social Sciences asks what impact women’s limited influence and status in these key fields of research has upon our capacity to grapple with the social and political changes necessary for progress toward gender equality. In doing so, it builds persuasive arguments about how and why gender matters in the social sciences.

The project provides a complex picture of why social science disciplines differ so markedly in terms of patterns of gender bias and the costs for disciplinary innovation and social change. Gendered Excellence in the Social Sciences is the first project to move beyond internal studies of gender within disciplines to a detailed comparison of the patterns and trajectories found across the social sciences. Data collected by the project and project publications can be seen on the project website.