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Subfield · Social Sciences

Gender Studies research

Gender Studies is a subfield of Social Sciences. Science Explorer counts 325k research works in it since 1950. 22.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation.

Research works
325k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
73k
per year above
Top-10% rate
22.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
21
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+46%
the tick is no change

What is Gender Studies research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Gender, Masculinity, Feminism, Gender Bias, Social Media, Stereotypes. Gaining share since 2009–13: Financial Performance, Gender Equality, Academic Medicine, Science, Discourse Analysis. Losing share: Social Policy, Fan Culture, Sport, Labor Force Participation.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Gender27k◆ 0.95×6 topics
  2. Masculinity21k▼ 0.86×4 topics
  3. Feminism18k▲ 1.36×4 topics
  4. Gender Bias16k◆ 1.15×3 topics
  5. Social Media15k▼ 0.81×2 topics
  6. Stereotypes14k◆ 0.99×2 topics
  7. Identity14k▼ 0.86×2 topics
  8. Corporate Governance13k▲ 1.49×2 topics
  9. Queer Theory12k▲ 1.24×3 topics
  10. Intersectionality12k◆ 0.95×4 topics
  11. Education11k▲ 1.24×4 topics
  12. Sexuality9,772▲ 1.38×3 topics
  13. Gender Inequality9,223▼ 0.71×2 topics
  14. Academic Medicine9,172▲ 1.65×1 topic
  15. Science9,172▲ 1.65×1 topic
  16. Gender Diversity8,074◆ 1.01×1 topic
  17. Leadership8,074◆ 1.01×1 topic
  18. Neoliberalism7,770▲ 1.26×1 topic
  19. Postfeminism7,770▲ 1.26×1 topic
  20. Gender Roles7,388▲ 1.19×2 topics
  21. Gender Identity6,999◆ 0.88×2 topics
  22. Discourse Analysis6,869▲ 1.65×1 topic
  23. Social Norms6,869▲ 1.65×1 topic
  24. Social Policy6,760▼ 0.52×2 topics
  25. Fan Culture6,747▼ 0.58×1 topic
  26. Sport6,747▼ 0.58×1 topic
  27. Feminist Theory6,230◆ 1.04×2 topics
  28. Gender Equality6,103▲ 3.2×3 topics
  29. Labor Force Participation5,882▼ 0.59×1 topic
  30. Welfare Reform5,882▼ 0.59×1 topic
  31. Feminist Perspectives5,731◆ 1.05×2 topics
  32. Policy Makers5,718◆ 1.01×1 topic
  33. Women5,718◆ 1.01×1 topic
  34. Advertising5,558◆ 0.95×1 topic
  35. Media Representation5,558◆ 0.95×1 topic
  36. Economic Well-Being5,323▲ 1.57×2 topics
  37. Social Perception4,687▲ 1.36×2 topics
  38. Health Behaviors4,608▼ 0.85×1 topic
  39. Help Seeking4,608▼ 0.85×1 topic
  40. Financial Performance4,446▲ 11×1 topic

Which countries lead Gender Studies research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia rank highest in Gender Studies. By volume, the United States and Indonesia publish the most (19k and 6k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 22.5% top 10% · 19k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom · #2 all time 27.2% top 10% · 5.4k works
  3. 3 Australia · #3 all time 29.4% top 10% · 2.4k works
  4. 4 China · #7 all time 24.7% top 10% · 2.8k works
  5. 5 Germany · #5 all time 24.6% top 10% · 2.4k works
  6. 6 Canada · #4 all time 24.8% top 10% · 2.5k works
  7. 7 Spain · #8 all time 18.5% top 10% · 2.7k works
  8. 8 Italy · #10 all time 26.8% top 10% · 1.2k works
  9. 9 Netherlands · #6 all time 35.0% top 10% · 781 works
  10. 10 India · #12 all time 12.9% top 10% · 2.8k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 50 countries ranked in Gender Studies. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Gender Studies

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 19k works
  2. 2 Indonesia 6k works
  3. 3 Brazil 5.5k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 5.4k works
  5. 5 Türkiye 3.6k works
  6. 6 China 2.8k works
  7. 7 India 2.8k works
  8. 8 Spain 2.7k works
  9. 9 Canada 2.5k works
  10. 10 Germany 2.4k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 35.6%Indonesia: 11.4%Brazil: 10.6%United Kingdom: 10.3%6 others listed: 32.1%36%largest
United States19k · 35.6%Indonesia5,951 · 11.4%Brazil5,534 · 10.6%United Kingdom5,378 · 10.3%6 others listed17k · 32.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Gender Studies research?

University of Toronto (Canada) ranks first in Gender Studies on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Monash University and University of Michigan.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of Toronto Canada · Toronto · #9 all time 26.7% top 10% · 232 works
  2. 2 Monash University Australia · Melbourne · #35 all time 38.6% top 10% · 159 works
  3. 3 University of Michigan United States · Ann Arbor · #1 all time 27.9% top 10% · 249 works
  4. 4 Yale University United States · New Haven · #3 all time 30.6% top 10% · 144 works
  5. 5 Stanford University United States · Stanford · #2 all time 29.0% top 10% · 153 works
  6. 6 University College London United Kingdom · London · #25 all time 29.0% top 10% · 164 works
  7. 7 King's College London United Kingdom · London · #47 all time 31.1% top 10% · 133 works
  8. 8 Harvard University United States · Cambridge · #12 all time 33.3% top 10% · 123 works
  9. 9 University of Gothenburg Sweden · Gothenburg · #78 all time 42.2% top 10% · 102 works
  10. 10 New York University United States · New York · #17 all time 28.1% top 10% · 115 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 201 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Gender Studies.

Top 100 Gender Studies institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 269 works
  2. 2 University of MichiganUnited States 249 works
  3. 3 University of TorontoCanada 232 works
  4. 4 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 186 works
  5. 5 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 175 works
  6. 6 The University of MelbourneAustralia 168 works
  7. 7 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 164 works
  8. 8 Monash UniversityAustralia 159 works
  9. 9 Universitas TrisaktiIndonesia 155 works
  10. 10 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulBrazil 154 works

Who are the leading researchers in Gender Studies?

Among the most productive authors in Gender Studies, Sigmund Freud, Robert J. Barro and Judith Butler rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Sigmund Freud United States · #25 worldwide 2.7k citations · 174 works
  2. 2 Robert J. Barro United States · #36 worldwide 7.9k citations · 165 works
  3. 3 Judith Butler United States · #70 worldwide 6.7k citations · 132 works
  4. 4 Robert O. Bonow United States · #85 worldwide 4.5k citations · 220 works
  5. 5 Loïc Wacquant United States · #89 worldwide 3.1k citations · 153 works
  6. 6 Richard Blundell United Kingdom · #129 worldwide 5.2k citations · 140 works
  7. 7 Simon Kuznets United States · #198 worldwide 2.5k citations · 124 works
  8. 8 Martha C. Nussbaum United States · #279 worldwide 1.6k citations · 260 works
  9. 9 Bryan S. Turner United States · #337 worldwide 1.9k citations · 273 works
  10. 10 Jeanne Brooks‐Gunn United States · #523 worldwide 2.9k citations · 132 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,254 highest-output authors in Gender Studies. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Gender Studies researchers

Where is Gender Studies research done?

The largest centres of Gender Studies research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), Jakarta (Indonesia), New York (United States) and São Paulo (Brazil). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Quantico Station.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 1.2k works
  2. 2 Jakarta Indonesia 967 works
  3. 3 New York United States 800 works
  4. 4 São Paulo Brazil 760 works
  5. 5 Istanbul Türkiye 688 works
  6. 6 Melbourne Australia 621 works
  7. 7 Washington D.C. United States 602 works
  8. 8 Beijing China 594 works
  9. 9 Rio de Janeiro Brazil 594 works
  10. 10 Madrid Spain 588 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Quantico StationUS · 20.8 works18×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Gender Studies than the world average.

See Gender Studies on the map

Gender Studies research by country

The best places for Gender Studies research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Gender Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Gothenburg and Monash University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 38.9%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Manchester Metropolitan University: 72, 39.9%University of Gothenburg: 102, 42.2%Monash University: 159, 38.6%London School of Economics and Political Science: 109, 33.8%Leeds Beckett University: 52, 35.1%Goldsmiths University of London: 42, 38.2%Dublin City University: 46, 38.0%University of Amsterdam: 94, 41.9%RMIT University: 70, 39.5%Nottingham Trent University: 45, 41.8%University of Gothen…Manchester Metropoli…Monash UniversityLondon School of Eco…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Manchester Metropolitan UniversityUnited Kingdom 60.039.9%5.9×72 +86.3%
2 University of GothenburgSweden 58.342.2%3.5×102 +69.4%
3 Monash UniversityAustralia 58.238.6%2.6×159 +69.5%
4 London School of Economics and Political ScienceUnited Kingdom 57.433.8%6.2×109 +35.8%
5 Leeds Beckett UniversityUnited Kingdom 57.435.1%9.2×52 +28.4%
6 Goldsmiths University of LondonUnited Kingdom 57.438.2%9.3×42 +36.0%
7 Dublin City UniversityIreland 55.938.0%3.8×46 +251.6%
8 University of AmsterdamNetherlands 53.541.9%2.5×94 +49.2%
9 RMIT UniversityAustralia 52.439.5%2.7×70 +76.3%
10 Nottingham Trent UniversityUnited Kingdom 52.141.8%3.8×45 +108.1%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Gender Studies research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 46% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure, Gender Studies and Social Issues and Feminism, Gender, and Social Issues.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure+1806%
  2. Gender Studies and Social Issues+1179%
  3. Feminism, Gender, and Social Issues+577%
  4. Gender, Sexuality, and Education+448%
  5. Gender and Feminist Studies+236%
  6. Gender, Feminism, and Media+222%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Gender Studies include?

Gender, Labor, and Famil…32kGender, Labor, and Family Dynamics: 32k fractional worksGender Diversity and Ine…30kGender Diversity and Inequality: 30k fractional worksSports, Gender, and Society: 29k fractional worksDiversity and Career in Medicine: 27k fractional worksGender, Feminism, and Media: 25k fractional worksGender Roles and Identity Studies: 21k fractional worksGender Politics and Representation: 20k fractional worksMedia, Gender, and Advertising: 20k fractional worksDemographic Trends and Gender Preferences: 19k fractional worksGender, Sexuality, and Education: 18k fractional worksSexual Assault and Victimization Studies: 15k fractional worksGender and Technology in Education: 12k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.