  The literature dedicated to analysis of the difference in research
productivity between the sexes tends to agree in indicating better performance
for men. This study enters in the vein of work on the subject. Through
bibliometric examination of the entire population of research personnel working
in the scientific-technological disciplines of Italian university system, it
confirms the presence of significant differences in productivity between men
and women. But such differences result as being smaller than reported in a
large part of the literature, confirming an ongoing tendency towards decline,
and are also seen as more noticeable for quantitative performance indicators
than other indicators. The gap between the sexes presents important sectorial
specificities. In spite of the generally better performance of men, it can not
be ignored that there are a significant number of scientific sectors in which
the performance of women does not result as inferior.
