The Matilda Effect—Role Congruity Effects on Scholarly Communication

Using role congruity theory as the basis for the study, an analysis of 1,020 articles published 1991-2005 in Communication Research and Journal of Communication, as well as the ISI citations these articles received and the citations these articles included, was conducted. In line with a hypothesized “Matilda effect” (underrecognition of female scientists), articles authored by female communication scientists received fewer citations than articles authored by males. Hypotheses on moderating impacts of research topic, author productivity, and citing author’s sex, as well as on change in the effect’s extent across time were derived from the theoretical framework. Networking conceptualizations led to an additional hypothesis. Five of six hypotheses were supported.