In the newly released Research.com rankings for the world’s best female scientists, a Harvard Medical School professional specialising in epidemiology and women’s health has taken the top spot.
Research.com, a leading academic platform for researchers, prepared the ranking to inspire female scholars, women considering an academic career, and decision-makers worldwide with the example of successful women in the scientific community.
The platform also published an analysis of key findings about the best female scientists and the problem of misrepresentation of women in science.
Studies show that women are less likely to be named on a patent or article relative to their male peers, and their contributions are often unacknowledged. Among graduate students, female researchers have a 14.97% chance of getting an attribution, while for men, it is higher at 21.37%. The authors of the ranking hope that it will contribute to providing more opportunities, visibility, and equal chances for women in science.
Such misrepresentation and bias against women, as observed by anthropologist Dr Treena Orchard from Western University, Canada, “reflects the deep gender inequities within the male-driven industry of science that have traditionally excluded and devalued the contributions of women.”
The best female scientist in the world is Professor JoAnn E. Manson from Harvard Medical School. She is known for her pioneering research in epidemiology and women’s health. Her h-index is 310.
In absolute values, female scientists working in the United States dominate the list, with 616 scholars included in 2024, representing 61.6% of the whole ranking. Nine out of 10 scientists in the top 1% are from the United States. The United Kingdom ranks second with 92 scientists. The third spot was taken by Germany, which currently has 39 scientists in the ranking.
Harvard University is the top institution with 42 female scientists included in the ranking. Following the top position is the National Institutes of Health with 34 scientists, with Stanford University occupying third place with 27 scientists.
The best female scientists in the world predominantly publish their work in medicine, with 468 (46.8%) of ranked scholars having the majority of their publications in that area.
Other popular areas of research among female scholars are physics (10.5%), immunology (4.2%), and psychology (3.4%).
Research.com, a leading academic platform for researchers, prepared the ranking. The ranking is based on data collected from various bibliometric sources. Position in the ranking is based on a scientist’s general H-index.
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