Systemic gendered citation imbalance in computer science: evidence from conferences and journals

Abstract Gender imbalance persists across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, including computer science, where it appears in researcher demographics, productivity, recognition, hiring, and career progression. Given computer science’s rapid expansion and global influence, addressing this imbalance is essential for broadening participation and fueling innovation. Although journal-oriented disciplines exhibit consistent gender imbalances in citation practices, it remains unclear whether similar patterns arise in the conference-centric culture of computer science. Here, we systematically investigate gender imbalance in citations of conference and journal papers in computer science. We find that papers with a woman as first or last author receive fewer citations than expected, partly because of homophilic citation tendencies (i.e., authors tend to cite papers that share specific attributes). This imbalance is especially pronounced for conference papers–particularly those published at top-tier venues–relative to journals. Moreover, we find that the prominence of the first or last author and the structure of their local co-authorship networks are potential drivers of these imbalances. By exploring how conference-centric publishing practices can amplify systemic imbalances in computer science, our study offers insights that may inform efforts to foster more equitable representation in academia.