Motherhood and ex-ante evaluation: Special criteria for female researchers in public funding in Brazil

Funding agencies worldwide have been establishing institutional policies to address gender inequalities stemming from women's performance biases and family obligations, which affect the allocation of grants and the career progression of female researchers. At the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, some advisory committees have established 'special criteria' to evaluate the curricula of female researchers since 2019 regarding the Research Productivity Grant. Of the 48 committees in this period, 16 implemented specific criteria, covering a broad spectrum of knowledge areas. The criteria extend the evaluation period for childbirth or adoption to compensate for motherhood's impact on scientific productivity. Most committees embraced these criteria to promote gender equity in science and technology. Additionally, we investigated the results of implementing these criteria based on identified microdata related to grant applications and approvals.