Shifts in women's academic authorship: Comparing first vs. last author gains (2015–2024)

Each point represents the change in women’s share of first- and last-author positions by field. The diagonal marks equal gains; fields above it show stronger increases in last-author representation (often reflecting senior or supervisory roles), while those below show faster growth in first-author positions. The dotted lines indicate a ±1.5 percentage-point “tandem zone,” where gains in early- and senior-authorship roles rise in parallel.

Fields are color-coded by their broader discipline:
● Humanities and Creative Arts
● Biological Sciences and Biotechnology
● Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences
● Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences
● Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences