Measuring the Success of Female Faculty in the IS Research Arena: An Empirical Investigation

The gender disparity in the US IT workforce is well documented (Brandel, 2014). This research-in-progress looks at (1) whether a concomitant gender gap exists in MIS university faculty members and (2) whether women and men university faculty members are equally successful in the profession, as measured by their publishing activity in the leading MIS journals. In order to investigate these issues, we collect data on (1) female representation in the IS discipline and (2) female representation in the leading IS journals. We are not only interested in how many women are in the MIS academic field, but how successful they are from a publication perspective. Just as having a diverse workforce and female-friendly policies is touted as good business for industry, having a diverse workforce is good for academia. Having more women faculty members increases the attractiveness of the profession for other women, especially if they are deemed successful