Our Picks for November 13, 2018

We hope those of you who attended had a fun and productive SfN! Thanks to all who came out to our social. We hope it was one way to ameliorate potential for isolation of such a large conference.

Studies on Gender in Science:

Authorship disputes -- contentious discussions about who is an author, who is the first author, or who is the corresponding author -- are probably more common than most scientists would like. That's because the order of authorship and the designation of corresponding author affect how people view the contribution of each author. A recent study analyzed authorship position in ecology and evolution papers. Many of their findings are interesting, but perhaps most striking to me was this: "Women were less likely to be authors on papers with male last authors, and all‐male papers were more abundant than expected given the overall gender ratio." Women were also less likely to be last or corresponding authors.

A recent study (link to a blog post about the study) shows that women in geoscience are more likely stay in geoscience if they have female geoscientist role models. More evidence that representation matters!

Opinions/Calls to Action:

Kimbery Tommy calls for scientists to listen to people of color in science and to act against racism in science. Only with such action, she argues, will we be able to increase the number of women of color in science. The stats she cites: "Women remain the minority in science, technology, engineering and mathematics commonly known as STEM, it is estimated that globally women account for only 30% of scientific positions, although accounting for almost 60% of the university population. Of that 30%, less than 5% are black."

Terry McGlynn calls for men to take action to advance gender equity in academia. He argues that gender inequality won't be solved until men change their actions. He offers advice on how men can educate themselves about the issues and tips on how they can act. Share this with your male colleagues!

Evidence-based Recommendations/Literature Review:

Elife recently published an article with a list of evidence-based recommendations for improving gender equity through recruitment. The recommendations include creating identified positions that are only open to women and people of other underrepresented groups in departments lacking diversity. They also advocate for redefining merit to focus on the quality rather than quantity of research, as focus on quantity can be biased against women.