Are academic ecology conferences women-inclusive spaces?

Academic conferences are major scenarios to disseminate and learn about scientific advances, but also to bring opportunities for developing collaboration networks or displaying a certain status and prestige. However, not all researchers benefit equally from these events. Recent studies showed compelling evidence that women have reduced opportunities to participate in academic conferences compared to men. Discrimination against women has been reported in abstract selection, coauthor lists, convener panels and invitations to keynote talks (Farr et al. 2017, Sanchez-Montoya et al. 2016, Lupon et al. 2019). Yet gender bias does not stop there: women generally ask fewer and shorter questions than their male counterparts (Hinsley et al. 2017), and tend to feel more excluded from intellectual discussions and social events (Lupon et al. 2019, Settles and O’Conner 2014).  Collectively, these “chilly” experiences may affect women’s job satisfaction and lower their intentions to pursue a scientific career (Biggs et al. 2018).

These findings stress the importance of advancing towards more women-inclusive conferences, even in countries with good perceptions of women as scientists. Due to these facts, we strongly encourage organizers to develop and follow guidelines for inclusive scientific meetings, with special focus on:

1. Increasing the involvement and visibility of women in conferences— Involving women at different levels of conference organization (scientific committees, conveners, keynote speakers) is one easy, effective and practical action for achieving gender balance. Several studies have shown that women are invited more frequently to be keynote speakers when other women are in the organization board, and that women ask more questions when the person that is in the stage (speakers, conveners) is another woman (Lupon et al. 2021 and references therein). Hence, clear guidelines and criteria, including gender quotas, inclusive calls for participation, or open explanations for the reasons of choosing a particular keynote speaker, should be designed and provided to conference organizers.
   
   
2. Speaking out about gender imbalances-- Most people are not aware about gender disparities in science, and particularly in academic conferences (Lupon et al. 2021). To solve this alarming problem, we recommend to include activities promoting the public discussion of gender related issues during conferences (e.g., plenary talks, round tables) or add an initial statement to raise awareness on inclusive practices. These activities provide the opportunity to unmask prevalent subtle disparities (Catalán et al. 2022), and thus, could improve diversity justice in future conferences.
   
   
3. Redesigning conferences to foster equity and inclusion— Conferences are still hostile environments for women. Before the conference, choose carefully the event’s location, materials, and policies to ensure positive, pro-active attitudes towards diversity and inclusion (Tulloch 2020). In addition, it is important to collectively rethink and redesign sessions’ dynamics to include all ideologies and capabilities. For instance, current “stage-time” dynamics favor competition and authority, which usually undermines the participation of women (Hinsley et al. 2017, Lupon et al. 2021).  The inclusion of alternative, more relaxed settings of discussion (e.g. round tables, group discussion, speed-dating activities) might help promoting the participation of women or other underrepresented groups. Involving ecological societies as allies--Ecological societies should play a pivotal role for inclusivity, as they represent academic culture and ethics benchmarks of their fields. In recent years, several societies have stepped forward towards this direction by implementing initiatives to directly or indirectly promote inclusiveness, such as code of conducts, support for child care, or breast-feeding rooms. In addition, the organization of training courses on gender bias or gender inclusive language, creating mentor-mentees programs or fostering collaboration among early-career or women researchers can contribute to avoid gender imbalances.
   
   

The AIL Gender and Science Group would like to thank Iberian Society of Ecology (SIBECOL) for the funding and support received for conducting this study.*  

References:
Biggs J, Hawley PH, Biernat M. 2018. The academic conference as a chilly climate for women: effects of gender representation on experiences of sexism, coping responses, and career intentions. Sex Roles, 78: 394–408. 

Catalán, N., Anton‐Pardo, M., Freixa, A., Rodríguez‐Lozano, P., Bartrons, M., Bernal, S., Genua‐Olmedo, A., Mendoza‐Lera, C., Onandía, G., Benito, X. and Sánchez‐Montoya, M.M., 2022. Women in limnology: From a historical perspective to a present‐day evaluation. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, p.e1616.

Farr CM, Bombaci SP, Gallo T, Mangan AM, Riedl HL, Stinson LT, et al. 2017. Addressing the gender gap in distinguished speakers at professional ecology conferences. Bioscience, 67: 464–468.

Hinsley A, Sutherland WJ, Johnston A. 2017. Men ask more questions than women at a scientific conference. PLoS One, 12: 1–14

*Lupon A, Rodríguez-Lozano P, Bartrons M, Anadon-Rosell A, Batalla M, Bernal S, et al. 2021 Towards women-inclusive ecology: Representation, behavior, and perception of women at an international conference. PLoS One, 16: e0260163.

Sánchez-Montoya M. M, Pastor A, Aristi I, del Arco AI, Antón-Pardo M, Bartrons M, et al. 2016. Women in limnology in the Iberian Peninsula: biases, barriers and recommendations. Limentica, 35: 61–72.

Settles IH, O’Connor RC. 2014. Incivility at academic conferences: Gender differences and the mediating role of climate Sex Roles, 71: 71–82.

Tulloch AIT. 2020. Improving sex and gender identity equity and inclusion at conservation and ecology conferences. Nat Ecol Evol., 4: 1311–1320