Correlation between the drivers of academic success
The high international disparity in academic success, particularly between the Global North and Global South, is mainly due to the accumulation of differences in T, L, and N (Fig. 2b). Unsurprisingly, there is a positive correlation between T,L, and N (Fig. 2c) where researchers in wealthy countries often have better English proficiency and much less restrictions to travel worldwide than researchers in poor countries. This positive association generates an academic system where researchers “either have it all or have nothing”. Therefore, a global intersectionality framework of the four drivers of academic success reveals that researchers from the Global South are limited by T , L ,N and D, but those from the Global North are mostly affected by D (Fig. 2d). Hence, to succeed in academia, researchers from unprivileged backgrounds must overcompensate by spending extra efforts and money learning English at a late age, seeking independent training, finding access to journals and books, carrying out research with limited to no funding and adequate infrastructure, and moving to countries in the Global North with cumbersome difficulties. The realization that most determinants of T, L, N and Dare beyond the control of individual students and scientists is the first step towards an exhaustive comprehension of EDI.