PSLBI-4 Influence of gender on animal science research funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Authors: Van Goor Angelica G , Moran Emma , Kirk-Baer Charlotte , Shoemaker Robbin , Mirando Mark , Chitnis Parag 
Published: September 2024

According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, females and males in science disciplines obtain bachelor’s degrees at or near parity, yet females are not equally represented in academic faculty positions. This is true for agricultural fields including the animal sciences. The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) administers the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), a flagship competitive grants program that funds research, education, and extension efforts with a total appropriation of $445 million in 2024. Our objective was to determine the difference between genders for submission rates (i.e., number of standard and seed grant applications submitted), peer reviewers of grant applications, and success rates (i.e., number of grant awards/number of applications submitted) in the main animal related AFRI program area priorities. All applications submitted to AFRI programs in animal genomics, reproduction, health, nutrition and growth, and welfare during yr 2013-2022 were evaluated. Gender was assigned to Project Directors (PD) and peer reviewers using first names as input into Gender API software (Gender-API.com; Passau, Germany) with ≥ 95% accuracy and ≥ 20 database occurrences used as quality filters and binary outcomes only (i.e., male or female). Effect of gender on submission rates, peer review panel compositions, and success rates were then analyzed using Pearson’s Chi-squared tests with P ≤ 0.05 considered significant. Results: A total of 3,757 applications were submitted, of which 2,761 (73%) PD genders were assigned and analyzed further. Overall, the proportional submission rate for females was 28% and for males was 72%. Submission rates for females increased (P = 0.0614) over time ranging from 22% in 2013 to 33% in 2021. Submission rates differed by gender across programs (P &lt; 0.0001) and ranged from 23% female in animal reproduction to 48% female in animal welfare. Across 48 panels, 41% of panelists were female; no differences were identified for the proportion of female panelists over time (P = 0.9509) or by program (P = 0.9298). Overall, the funding success rate for females was 23% and for males was 22%. Success rates did not differ between genders over time (P = 0.9080) or by program (P = 0.9094). Females submitted less than one-half as many applications as did males, but the proportion of submissions by females increased over time. This trend remained consistent despite challenges of relocation of NIFA and COVID-19 during this time. Overall, the proportion of NIFA panelists who were female exceeded the proportion of applications submitted by females. Funding success rates did not differ by gender and increased for both genders over time. These results indicate that although differences in gender existed for application submission rate and panel composition, these differences did not impact funding success rate of applications in animal science programs at NIFA, which did not differ between genders.