A purpose of the present invention is to reduce odor of a water-absorbent resin during absorption of water. Such the invention is attained by a process for production of a water-absorbent resin by subjecting a water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer to reversed-phase suspension polymerization. The process comprises the following steps (A) to (C): (A) adding an aqueous solution of water-soluble ethylenically unsaturated monomer to a petroleum hydrocarbon dispersion medium to disperse the aqueous solution in the dispersion medium； (B) adding a surfactant to the emulsion to further disperse the emulsion； and (C) performing the reversed-phase suspension polymerization using a water-soluble radical polymerization initiator, optionally in the presence of an internal-crosslinking agent.
