Women are underrepresented on the editorial boards of journals in environmental biology and natural resource management

Alyssa H Cho; Shelly A Johnson; Carrie E Schuman; Jennifer M Adler; Oscar Gonzalez; Sarah J Graves; Jana R Huebner; D Blaine Marchant; Sami W Rifai; Irina Skinner; Emilio M Bruna

doi:10.7717/peerj.542

Women are underrepresented on the editorial boards of journals in environmental biology and natural resource management

PeerJ. 2014 Aug 21:2:e542. doi: 10.7717/peerj.542. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Agronomy Department, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL , USA.
² School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL , USA.
³ School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL , USA.
⁴ Biology Department, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL , USA.
⁵ Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL , USA.
⁶ Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL , USA ; Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL , USA.

Abstract

Despite women earning similar numbers of graduate degrees as men in STEM disciplines, they are underrepresented in upper level positions in both academia and industry. Editorial board memberships are an important example of such positions; membership is both a professional honor in recognition of achievement and an opportunity for professional advancement. We surveyed 10 highly regarded journals in environmental biology, natural resource management, and plant sciences to quantify the number of women on their editorial boards and in positions of editorial leadership (i.e., Associate Editors and Editors-in-Chief) from 1985 to 2013. We found that during this time period only 16% of subject editors were women, with more pronounced disparities in positions of editorial leadership. Although the trend was towards improvement over time, there was surprising variation between journals, including those with similar disciplinary foci. While demographic changes in academia may reduce these disparities over time, we argue journals should proactively strive for gender parity on their editorial boards. This will both increase the number of women afforded the opportunities and benefits that accompany board membership and increase the number of role models and potential mentors for early-career scientists and students.

Keywords: Associate Editors; Bias; Editor-in-Chief; Editorial Boards; Gender; Subject Editors.

Grants and funding

Support for data collection was provided by a UF Center for Latin American Studies Faculty Research Award to Emilio Bruna. Support for publishing this manuscript in an Open Access journal was provided by the Dean of the University of Florida’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and the Interim Deans for Research and Directors of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.