Objective: To assess whether there is gender bias in the allocation of rese
arch fellowships granted by the Research Fellowships Committee of the Natio
nal Health and Medical Research Council.
Data sources: Anonymous data from applications for a research fellowship fr
om 1994 to 1997.
Results: More men than women apply for research fellowships (sex ratio, 2.5
:1), but there is no difference in the proportion of male or female applica
nts who succeed in their application. Among new applicants, men tend to app
ly for a higher level of fellowship than women.
Conclusions: Lack of data about the numbers of eligible men and women means
that we cannot drawl conclusions about self-selection biases among potenti
al applicants. However, the selection procedures of the Committee appear to
be unbiased. Tt-le gender of applicants does not influence the outcome of
their application.