  Narrative reviews of peer review research have concluded that there is
negligible evidence of gender bias in the awarding of grants based on peer
review. Here, we report the findings of a meta-analysis of 21 studies
providing, to the contrary, evidence of robust gender differences in grant
award procedures. Even though the estimates of the gender effect vary
substantially from study to study, the model estimation shows that all in all,
among grant applicants men have statistically significant greater odds of
receiving grants than women by about 7%.
