WOMENS STUDIES - BIBLIOMETRIC AND CONTENT-ANALYSIS OF THE FORMATIVE YEARS

Women's studies has emerged as a recognised academic specialty in rece nt years. We explored the social structure of the field by analysing b ibliometrically all scholarly articles (n = 1,302) and acknowledgement s (n = 595) appearing in three pioneering journals over a twenty year period. We analysed authors (n = 1,504) and acknowledgees (n = 3,252) in terms of gender. We also conducted a content analysis of all editor ial statements (n = 135) published by the three journals. Our results demonstrate the highly gendered nature of the field and the incompatib ility of its publicly stated objectives.