The Problem with a New Study on Mentorship in Science

he increasing visibility of women in leadership roles is one of the few success stories in the struggle for equality in science. But a new study, which connects how often scientists’ later publications get cited with the gender of their early coauthors, threatens to throw cold water on even that modest success. The authors, computer science and public policy researchers at New York University Abu Dhabi, two of whom are women, claim the evidence is clear that having women as mentors is harmful to their mentees’ long-term citation rates. The , published in , goes on to suggest that working with senior women coauthors is perhaps best avoided, especially by junior women