  Gender bias in grant allocation is a deviation from the principle that
scientific merit should guide grant decisions. However, most studies on gender
bias in grant allocation focus on gender differences in success rates, without
including variables that measure merit. This study has two main contributions.
Firstly, it includes several merit variables in the analysis. Secondly, it
includes an analysis at the panel level where the selection process takes
place, and this enables to study bias more in-depth at the process level. The
findings are: (i) After controlling for merit, a consistent pattern of gender
bias was found in the scores: women receive significant lower grades than men
do. (ii) The scores are an input into the two-step decision-making process, and
this study shows bias against women in the first selection decision where 75%
of the applications are rejected, and bias in favor of women in the second
(final) selection decision. (iii) At the level of individual panels, the
analysis shows a mixed pattern of bias: in some panels the odds for women to
receive a grant are lower than for men, whereas in other panels we find the
opposite, next to panels with gender-neutral decision making. (iv) In the case
under study, at an aggregated level the allocation of grants seems balanced.
(v) The mixed pattern at panel level seems to relate characteristics such as
the panel composition, and the level of gender stereotyping.

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