Intersectional Analysis of Health Inequalities Research Authorship in the United Kingdom (1970–2023): Towards an Inclusive Scholarship?

Abstract

Gender inequalities in authorship have extensively been investigated, yet evidence on ethnic inequalities remains limited, with even fewer studies examining the intersections of the two. Our study aims to identify and measure the magnitude of intersectional (gender-by-ethnicity) inequalities among United Kingdom (U.K.)-affiliated-first authors in health inequalities research (1970–2023), and investigate how ethnic inequalities are distributed between and within gender groups over time. The study focuses on U.K. authorship due to its long health inequalities research tradition. We conducted bibliometric analysis of the health inequalities field using the Scopus database, limiting our analysis to U.K.-affiliated authors. Based on first and family names, four strategies were adopted to identify the authors’ gender; the Consumer Data Research Centre's Ethnicity Estimator software was used to identify their ethnicity. Despite a decline in the representation of White male first authors over time, all other intersectional groups—especially Black/British Caribbean and Asian/British Bangladeshi authors—show markedly lower representation overall and consistently, with minimal contributions compared to their White male and female counterparts. Our findings offer a nuanced understanding of how different social groups have contributed to the U.K.'s health inequalities research field over time. Addressing these epistemic injustices is essential to enrich the field and strengthen efforts to tackle health inequalities.