Female researchers take up less space in the media

Male researchers are more cited in Danish media than female researchers. But it does not have to be this way.

So, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, Copenhagen Business School wishes to make it easier for the media to find expert female researchers and has prepared a list of female experts whose knowledge is available to the media.

”It is the absolute choice of the media to decide which sources to use, and it is our task as a university to make it easy for them to find relevant experts of both genders. Since women are underrepresented in today’s media picture, we have prepared this list of female CBS researchers, who are happy to make their knowledge available,” says Søren Hvidkjær, Dean of Research at CBS.

Men in the vast majority on top 50

Recently, Danish Akademikerbladet published a list of the most quoted experts in Danish media in 2022, of which only three out of 50 were women.

Based on Infomedia data, CBS has counted how much media coverage CBS researchers got in 2022. Among 50 of the most covered researchers, 45 were men and 5 were women.

CBS’ calculation includes quotes in Danish print and net media, participation in TV/radio/podcasts and opinion pieces, feature articles and book publications. CBS’ own media channels are not included.

”Unfortunately, I am not surprised by these figures. They fall in line with other gender distribution figures for Danish media coverage, which also shows that female researchers are underrepresented,” says Søren Hvidkjær.

”As a university, we would like to redress this balance. It is essential that the public debate allows space for diverse voices and perspectives. After all, our knowledge is to benefit society and the business community,” says Søren Hvidkjær.

Role models for younger women

According to Søren Hvidkjær, more female researchers becoming more visible may have a positive impact on the university.

”At CBS, we are working towards a more equal gender representation all the way up the career ladder. Today, a mere 20 per cent of CBS’ professors are women. It takes a long time to change the gender distribution significantly because the road to a professorship is long, and we only appoint very few new professors every year,” he says.

“We wish to recruit and retain talented researchers of both genders at this university. However, more female role models could perhaps contribute to more women getting a career within research. This will also give the university a larger talent pool to recruit from.”

Here you find the list of female CBS experts.

Contact:

Marianne Bom, Journalist, CBS I Tel. +45  4185 2631, E-mail: mb.slk@cbs.dk