Is there a gender bias in knowledge creation within the field of project management? : a bibliometric analysis from a feminist perspective

Abstract

Although project management has evolved as a profession for nearly a century there is an indication of a particular problem with gender bias in knowledge creation within the field. It can even be suggested that the field of project management needs to open up its tradition and adapt more inclusive and less deterministic approaches in its research. In an attempt explore this suggested gender bias, this research collected and analyzed quantifiable data as to investigate if there, a factual problem related to gender within the field of project management. Applying a combined method of bibliometric analysis of research from Scopus and SciVal and a survey of the gender ratio in membership within some key project management associations worldwide the research proves that there is a gender bias in the field. In addition to already identified problems of weak theoretical foundations, it is apparent that research on gender is only marginal or at 0,1% of all research within the field. Further, female membership is on average only 30% regardless of the fact that Codes of Ethics and Professional Conduct profess 100% gender equality. A feminist perspective in interpreting the data of this research illustrates the fact that the field of project management is suffering from a male bias at the cost of a more inclusive female contribution to in research and practice. This is also a concern for the five related fields of engineering, computer science, business management and accounting, social sciences, and decision-making- sciences identified as the key fields contributing to project management knowledge creation within the English-speaking scientific community. The research, therefore, claims that the field of project management needs to make a more serious attempt for a deeper inclusion of gender and intersectionality in its knowledge creation processes, especially if it aspires to develop further as an autonomous field of research and practicing profession. These findings support previous non-feminist findings for novel approaches to knowledge creation within the field of project management.