Representation of “Women” in Science and Field

Abstract

Women's studies continue in various fields within the framework of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, following the Millennium Development Goals. Assessing women's participation in innovation and creative activities reveals their underrepresentation in these domains. Studies in the literature predominantly focus on either the outcomes or the processes of this issue. The aim of this study, however, is to shed light on the root causes of the problem. This study utilized bibliometric methods to analyze 1,995 articles retrieved from the Web of Science (WOS) database, selecting "women" or "woman" as the research area, based on the concepts of socially constructed scientific knowledge and language's fundamental role in institutional reality. We adopted both a linguistic and theoretical perspective in this context, and utilized secondary data from WIPO statistics that indicated patent application numbers in the sector. The analysis results underline the need for a shift in institutional logic, and this institutional perspective offers a new dimension to the limited research in this field.