Google+'s real name policy sparked a lively debate in the science blogosphere. On the side of anonymity it was observed that women risk more than men when they use their real names.
But to get there I first had to answer another burning question: I wonder what the overall gender ratio is among science bloggers? The answer, based on the census data, is approximately 2 male science bloggers for every 1 female science blogger.
Again, based on the census sample, 15% of all science bloggers post anonymously.
Now does that percentage change when you divvy the sample up into male and female? Do women, considering the additional risk they incur by using their real names, account for a disproportionate percentage of the anonymous? It turns out that the answer is no, and although the difference is small enough to be insignificant given the sample size, according to the census data male science bloggers are 2.2% more likely to blog anonymously than women science bloggers.
We know that women experience 25 TIMES the amount of harassment online that men do.I light of this blanket disparity in risk you might expect to find--or even assume--that the percentage of women in science blogging anonymously is greater than that of their male counterparts. Sifting through the Census of Science Bloggers data I realized I had a sample with which to test this assumption.
But to get there I first had to answer another burning question: I wonder what the overall gender ratio is among science bloggers? The answer, based on the census data, is approximately 2 male science bloggers for every 1 female science blogger.
Again, based on the census sample, 15% of all science bloggers post anonymously.
Now does that percentage change when you divvy the sample up into male and female? Do women, considering the additional risk they incur by using their real names, account for a disproportionate percentage of the anonymous? It turns out that the answer is no, and although the difference is small enough to be insignificant given the sample size, according to the census data male science bloggers are 2.2% more likely to blog anonymously than women science bloggers.
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| Male Anonymity: 15.3% | Female Anonymity: 13.1% |
Nice to have the data!
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