A cross-dimensional analysis of nanotechnology and equality: examining gender fairness and pro-poor potential in Canada’s R&D landscape

Figures & data

Table 1. Number and share of nanotech-related publications and patents with energy, agri-food, and water applications.

		Energy	Agri-food	Water
Number of articles		726	244	271
% of nanotech-related papers		3.7%	1.2%	1.4%
Share of authorship of Canadian provinces	Ontario	45.9%	38.2%	49.2%
	Quebec	23.0%	25.0%	27.9%
	British Columbia	12.5%	9.5%	4.4%
	Alberta	11.6%	11.7%	10.2%
	Saskatchewan	2.8%	9.6%	2.6%
	Others	4.2%	5.9%	5.7%
Number of patents		241	82	53
% of nanotech-related patents		5.8%	2.0%	1.3%
Share of inventorship of Canadian provinces	Ontario	50.3%	51.2%	62.7%
	Quebec	17.8%	6.3%	11.3%
	British Columbia	24.0%	5.5%	9.4%
	Alberta	5.7%	13.3%	9.0%
	Saskatchewan	0.1%	15.8%	5.7%
	Others	2.1%	7.9%	1.9%

Figure 1. (A) Share of different sectors in pro-poor nanotechnology authorship by province; (B) Share of different sectors by field. Abbreviations for provinces are: ON: Ontario; QC: Quebec; BC: British Columbia; AB: Alberta; Abbreviations for sectors are: U: University; G: Government; I: Industry; H: Hospital.

Figure 2. (A) Number of publications by province in pro-poor nanotechnology; (B) Average annual growth rate of publications in pro-poor nanotechnology.

Figure 3. Number of articles and authors (left axis) and share of female authorship (right axis) over the years in pro-poor nanotechnology. Abbreviations for gender are: F: Female, M: Male.

Figure 4. Share of female authorship (left axis) and citation and journal impact (right axis) of the papers published by female and male authors (A) by sector (B) by application area and (C) by province (***, **, * show significance of gender differences at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels: details can be found in the appendix (Tables A1–A3)).

Figure 5. (A) Share of different sectors in pro-poor nanotechnology inventorship by province; (B) Share of different sectors by field.

Figure 6. (A) Number of patents by province in pro-poor nanotechnology; (B) Average annual growth rate of patents in pro-poor nanotechnology.

Figure 7. Number of patents and inventors (left axis) and share of female inventorship (right axis) over the years in pro-poor nanotechnology.

Figure 8. Share of female inventorship (as a percentage) and citation impact (as a decimal) (left axis) and average claims (right axis) of the patents granted to female and male inventors (A) by sector (B) by application area and (C) by province (***, **, * show significance of gender differences at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels: details can be found in the appendix (Tables A4-A6)).

Figure 9. (A) Share of female A-Is authorship (left axis) and citation and journal impact of papers published by female and male A-Is (right axis); (B) Share of female A-Is inventorship (as a percentage) and citation impact (as a decimal) (left axis) and average claims (right axis) of the patents granted to female and male A-Is (***, **, * show significance of gender differences at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels: details can be found in the appendix (Table A7)).

Figure 10. (A) Share of companies contributed to the scientific and technological development of pro-poor nanotechnology applications by industry; (B) Gender gap in employment and wage by different pro-poor applications.

Figure 11. Gender gap in employment (left) and wage (right) in Canadian industries.

Table A1. 95% Cls for average citation and journal impact of the papers authored by each gender and significance tests for their differences across different sectors (***, **, * show significance of gender differences at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels).

Sectors	Measure	Mean (CI) – Male	Mean (CI) – Female	Mean Difference (Male-Female)	Sig. (two-tailed)
University	Citation	0.92 (0.873–0.975)	0.808 (0.728–0.896)	0.112	0.026**
	SJR	0.575 (0.547–0.606)	0.52 (0.48–0.565)	0.055	0.037**
Government	Citation	0.635 (0.527–0.758)	0.664 (0.52–0.823)	−0.028	0.783
	SJR	0.383 (0.341–0.431)	0.401 (0.33–0.479)	−0.018	0.744
Industry	Citation	0.653 (0.502–0.831)	0.735 (0.378–1.176)	−0.081	0.712
	SJR	0.413 (0.338–0.509)	0.338 (0.233–0.448)	0.076	0.297

Table A2. 95% Cls for average citation and journal impact of the papers authored by each gender and significance tests for their differences across different application areas (***, **, * show significance of gender differences at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels).

Areas	Measure	Mean (CI) -Male	Mean (CI)-Female	Mean Difference (Male-Female)	Sig. (two-tailed)
Energy	Citation	0.811 (0.763–0.862)	0.75 (0.665–0.844)	0.061	0.228
	SJR	0.539 (0.506–0.574)	0.468 (0.468–0.52)	0.071	0.019**
Agri-food	Citation	0.91 (0.783–1.049)	0.74 (0.603–0.899)	0.17	0.078*
	SJR	0.487 (0.429–0.553)	0.466 (0.402–0.54)	0.021	0.654
Water	Citation	0.984 (0.874–1.114)	0.887 (0.709–1.075)	0.097	0.374
	SJR	0.575 (0.53–0.623)	0.58 (0.501–0.656)	-0.005	0.903

Table A3. 95% Cls for average citation and journal impact of the papers authored by each gender and significance tests for their differences in Canada and across different provinces (***, **, * show significance of gender differences at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels).

Provinces	Measure	Mean (CI) – Male	Mean (CI) – Female	Mean Difference (Male-Female)	Sig. (two-tailed)
Canada	Citation	0.862 (0.816–0.904)	0.78 (0.711–0.855)	0.082	0.044**
	SJR	0.537 (0.512–0.562)	0.494 (0.458–0.534)	0.043	0.055*
ON	Citation	0.85 (0.791–0.91)	0.809 (0.695–0.927)	0.041	0.553
	SJR	0.492 (0.433–0.558)	0.555 (0.521–0.59)	−0.063	0.084*
QC	Citation	0.833 (0.74–0.934)	0.836 (0.704–0.98)	−0.003	0.976
	SJR	0.511 (0.467–0.559)	0.531 (0.467–0.598)	−0.02	0.624
BC	Citation	1.011 (0.865–1.168)	0.759 (0.52–1.044)	0.252	0.093*
	SJR	0.595 (0.514–0.68)	0.515 (0.388–0.668)	0.08	0.31
AB	Citation	0.899 (0.765–1.052)	0.743 (0.536–1.043)	0.156	0.31
	SJR	0.496 (0.406–0.595)	0.497 (0.403–0.604)	−0.001	0.99

Table A4. 95% Cls for average citation impact and claims of the patents of each gender and significance tests for their differences across different sectors (***, **, * show significance of gender differences at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels).

Sectors	Measure	Mean (CI) – Male	Mean (CI) – Female	Mean Difference (Male-Female)	Sig. (two-tailed)
Industry	Citation	0.076 (0.065–0.088)	0.07 (0.054–0.091)	0.006	0.612
	Claim	9.194 (8.526–9.932)	6.976 (5.726–8.787)	2.218	0.018**
University	Citation	0.091 (0.059–0.136)	0.02 (0.007–0.039)	0.071	0.028**
	Claim	10.673 (9.108–12.287)	7.979 (4.887–11.384)	2.694	0.137
Government	Citation	0.041 (0.031–0.052)	0.012 (0.002–0.025)	0.028	0.001***
	Claim	7.234 (5.883–8.757)	3.79 (2.57–5.073)	3.445	0.002***

Table A5. 95% Cls for average citation impact and claims of the patents of each gender and significance tests for their differences across different application areas (***, **, * show significance of gender differences at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels).

Areas	Measure	Mean (CI) – Male	Mean (CI) – Female	Mean Difference (Male-Female)	Sig. (two-tailed)
Energy	Citation	0.088 (0.074–0.104)	0.083 (0.055–0.119)	0.005	0.798
	Claim	10.465 (9.656–11.406)	8.265 (6.657–10.295)	2.2	0.039**
Agri-food	Citation	0.045 (0.033–0.059)	0.024 (0.011–0.042)	0.021	0.045**
	Claim	6.061 (5.22–7.005)	4.656 (2.966–6.847)	1.405	0.186
Water	Citation	0.061 (0.048–0.077)	0.049 (0.025–0.076)	0.012	0.396
	Claim	8.856 (7.536–10.257)	4.858 (3.689–6.069)	3.998	0.001***

Table A6. 95% Cls for average citation impact and claims of the patents of each gender and significance tests for their differences in Canada and across different provinces (***, **, * show significance of gender differences at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels).

Provinces	Measure	Mean (CI) -Male	Mean (CI)-Female	Mean Difference (Male-Female)	Sig. (two-tailed)
Canada	Citation	0.075 (0.066–0.087)	0.065 (0.047–0.091)	0.01	0.435
	Claim	9.296 (8.674–9.934)	7.002 (5.832–8.428)	2.294	0.004***
ON	Citation	0.08 (0.065–0.096)	0.07 (0.043–0.106)	0.01	0.635
	Claim	9.19 (8.394–10.044)	7.077 (5.826–8.39)	2.113	0.012**
QC	Citation	0.05 (0.04–0.061)	0.052 (0.033–0.077)	−0.002	0.872
	Claim	7.242 (5.894–8.784)	5.559 (3.204–8.368)	1.683	0.265
BC	Citation	0.106 (0.078–0.146)	0.079 (0.038–0.121)	0.027	0.374
	Claim	11.88 (10.26–13.61)	10.21 (4.42–18.42)	1.676	0.708
AB	Citation	0.049 (0.029–0.073)	0.054 (0–0.167)	−0.005	0.913
	Claim	9.353 (7.289–11.692)	4.114 (2.251–6.083)	5.239	0.007***

Table A7. 95% Cls for average citation and journal impact of papers and average citation impact and claims of patents of A-Is of each gender and significance tests for their differences (***, **, * show significance of gender differences at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels).

A-I Role	Measure	Mean (CI) -Male	Mean (CI)-Female	Mean Difference (Male-Female)	Sig. (two-tailed)
Author	Citation	0.6 (0.464–0.737)	0.71 (0.564–0.91)	−0.11	0.323
	SJR	0.505 (0.398–0.617)	0.686 (0.503–0.854)	−0.181	0.086*
Inventor	Citation	0.095 (0.055–0.144)	0.133 (0.1–0.167)	−0.038	0.271
	Claim	8.747 (6.96–10.802)	7.917 (3.1–3.833)	0.83	0.835