Matilda effect in the Hispanic American communication co-authorship network

Abstract

Literature has noted that female researchers encounter a 'Matilda effect' that tends to undervalue and marginalize their contributions and role in their scientific communities. This paper tests whether any such effect is present in the Hispanic American communication research community through a social network analysis of the community's co-authorship network. The results show that, although three of the five most central positions in the network are occupied by women, significant differences in general terms move female researchers to more peripheral positions. Similarly, it has been detected that the research groups formed by the different clusters or communities detected in the network tend to be organized around a male researcher. This confirms the existence of a 'Matilda effect' that is also detrimental to the centrality of women in the social network of the Communication scientific communication. The article's conclusions can only be extrapolated to intellectual (Communication) and geographical (Spain and Latin America) parameters, so that future studies will be necessary to detect such an effect in other contexts.