The majority of women have research records dubbed inadequate, yet no consideration is taken for time lost on maternity leave, writes Phil Baty.
Women are badly underrepresented in the research assessment exercise because too few female academics have research records good enough to be included, a study by funding chiefs has found.
The study, published this week, says that while 64 per cent of men were selected by their managers to have research work submitted in the last RAE, 46 per cent of women were.
But it found that this "marked" discrepancy was not the result of gender bias by managers when deciding whose research to submit to the RAE.
Instead, the study says, many women's work failed to reach the requisite standard because of "deeply rooted" inequalities in higher education, such as the failure to properly take into account the effect of maternity leave on research careers.
Being selected to have work submitted to the RAE is often seen as a performance measure, with promotion prospects closely linked.
Not being submitted to the RAE deems staff "research inactive" and can spell the death of a research career.
In 2004, the Association of University Teachers (now the University and College Union) said that the RAE, last held in 2001 and to be run again in 2008, was blighted by "institutionalised sexism". It campaigned for the abolition of the exercise.
But the report from the Higher Education Funding Council for England concludes: "It would be unfortunate if the transparency of the RAE led to an unmerited conclusion that it was the cause of inequalities in research careers."
Hefce mounted a robust defence of the future of the exercise, warning:
"Without the relatively stable public funding through block grant that the RAE underpins, institutions would be much more dependent on shorter term project funding and it would be much more difficult to improve the career opportunities for academic staff."
The report, Selection of Staff for Inclusion in RAE 2001 , found that the gender discrepancy in the proportion of staff submitted was explained partly by different patterns of employment between men and women. Some subject areas such as nursing have a higher proportion of women submitting fewer researchers in total for the RAE.
But even when such factors were taken into account, men were still more likely to be selected, especially between the ages of 30 and 47.
A spokesman for Hefce said that the funding bodies "take equal opportunities very seriously" and had given the issue "increased prominence" for the 2008 exercise.
Sally Hunt, UCU joint general secretary, said that "warm words" about protecting staff who had taken career breaks had previously failed to make a difference.
She said: "We must not forget that the issues raised by the RAE affect all academics, not just women, because it is an inherently flawed way of allocating funding that creates job insecurity and competition where what are needed are long-term stability and teamwork."
phil.baty@thes.co.uk