Doing Visibility: Understanding Gender and Discipline Differences in Science Communication on Social Media and in the Press

Lina Spagert () and Elke Wolf
Additional contact information
Lina Spagert: Department of Engineering and Management, Munich University of Applied Sciences, 80335 Munich, Germany
Elke Wolf: Department of Engineering and Management, Munich University of Applied Sciences, 80335 Munich, Germany

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-22

Abstract: Nowadays, visibility is playing an increasingly important role in science communication. The topic is particularly significant for female experts, as their visibility not only inspires other women but also challenges gender stereotypes in academia. This article provides the first insights into the actual public visibility of scientific experts in Germany and presents potential factors that influence visibility. The analysis is based on the theoretical concept of doing visibility and identifies factors that influence the decision to increase visibility via social media. Our complex dataset comprises 139 experts (59 from computer science and 80 from social sciences), who took part in our online survey about visibility and personal information. Additionally, we tracked the respondent’s online footprint to ascertain their actual visibility in social media and press. The study reveals significant differences in creating visibility and the perception of visibility by sex and discipline. Computer scientists are more active on social media, while male social scientists are more visible in the press. Male computer scientists (57%) post their work on social media most frequently, followed by female computer scientists (35%), female social scientists (24%), and male social scientists (17%). Furthermore, the engagement on social media depends on the discipline, age, and media affinity of the experts. Overall, female experts gain less visibility on LinkedIn and in the press, although the gender differences in IT are smaller in this respect. Based on the results, we discuss potential reasons for the unequal distribution of visibility and suggest targeted interventions to close the gender visibility gap, such as (social) media or interview training. In addition, organisations and media representatives should be trained to actively contribute to breaking down gender stereotypes.

Keywords: visibility; doing visibility; science communication; gender equality; gender stereotypes; social media; LinkedIn; news media; women in the news (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/3/138/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/3/138/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:3:p:138-:d:1599253

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().