TY - JOUR
T1 - What Can Professional Scientific Societies Do to Improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
T2 - A Case Study of the American Elasmobranch Society
AU - Shiffman, David S.
AU - Arguedas Álvarez, Triana
AU - Bangley, Charles W.
AU - Boyt, Reilly
AU - Côté, Isabelle M.
AU - Daly-Engel, Toby S.
AU - Davis, Alexandra C.D.
AU - Gaskins, Leo C.
AU - Graham, Jasmin
AU - Graham, R. T.
AU - Johri, Shaili
AU - Macdonald, Catherine C.
AU - Paig-Tran, E. W.Misty
AU - Roca, Alberto I.
AU - Schwieterman, Gail D.
AU - Whitenack, Lisa B.
AU - Wiley, Tonya R.
AU - Ferry, Lara A.
N1 - Funding Information:
There are also potential barriers to continued participation in the society. While AES offers a variety of types of financial support to student members (reduced cost memberships, reduced cost meeting registration, dedicated travel support, and competitive research grants), once someone completes graduate school, they no longer have access to this support. While Postdocs, early career faculty, and entry-level government or environmental non-profit employees are certainly more financially secure than graduate students, they are less financially secure than more senior members despite being treated the same by the existing AES benefits structure. Some form of sliding scale, which could even take the form of counting people as students for a few years after they graduate, would help make sure that members can still participate in the field after they complete graduate school but before they have a financially secure mid-career position.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Shiffman, Arguedas Álvarez, Bangley, Boyt, Côté, Daly-Engel, Davis, Gaskins, Graham, Graham, Johri, Macdonald, Paig-Tran, Roca, Schwieterman, Whitenack, Wiley and Ferry.
PY - 2022/5/30
Y1 - 2022/5/30
N2 - Scientific professional societies are reviewing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices and policies in response to recent calls for much-needed change. Organizations like scientific professional societies contribute to establishing disciplinary norms, and can influence the diversity of disciplinary workforces in multiple ways through both action and inaction. This paper examines these issues using the American Elasmobranch Society (AES), a medium-sized professional scientific society, as a case study. It consists of three parts: (1) an analysis of the demographics of AES members, leaders, and award winners; (2) an evaluation of a diversity initiative created by the society which includes a survey of program alumni focusing on potential improvements to the program; and (3) a synthesis of recommendations of steps that AES and similarly sized societies can take to better support DEI goals. AES’s membership in recent years is more than half women, but 71.5% of all leadership positions in the Society’s history (including all but two Presidents) have been held by men since the society was founded in 1983. AES’s membership has significantly fewer Black/African-American members than the United States scientific workforce overall, with just 1 member out of over 400 identifying as Black in 2019, and 86.6% of Society leadership positions have been held by white-presenting members. The Society’s diversity initiative has led to some limited professional benefits for awardees, but could benefit from additional resources and support to enact suggested expansions and improvements. We provide a series of actionable recommendations that will make the annual meetings of societies like AES, and the field of chondrichthyan science, safer and more inclusive.
AB - Scientific professional societies are reviewing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices and policies in response to recent calls for much-needed change. Organizations like scientific professional societies contribute to establishing disciplinary norms, and can influence the diversity of disciplinary workforces in multiple ways through both action and inaction. This paper examines these issues using the American Elasmobranch Society (AES), a medium-sized professional scientific society, as a case study. It consists of three parts: (1) an analysis of the demographics of AES members, leaders, and award winners; (2) an evaluation of a diversity initiative created by the society which includes a survey of program alumni focusing on potential improvements to the program; and (3) a synthesis of recommendations of steps that AES and similarly sized societies can take to better support DEI goals. AES’s membership in recent years is more than half women, but 71.5% of all leadership positions in the Society’s history (including all but two Presidents) have been held by men since the society was founded in 1983. AES’s membership has significantly fewer Black/African-American members than the United States scientific workforce overall, with just 1 member out of over 400 identifying as Black in 2019, and 86.6% of Society leadership positions have been held by white-presenting members. The Society’s diversity initiative has led to some limited professional benefits for awardees, but could benefit from additional resources and support to enact suggested expansions and improvements. We provide a series of actionable recommendations that will make the annual meetings of societies like AES, and the field of chondrichthyan science, safer and more inclusive.
KW - diversity and inclusion
KW - marine biology
KW - marine science
KW - professional societies and associations
KW - shark
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132267440&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85132267440&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/feduc.2022.842618
DO - 10.3389/feduc.2022.842618
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85132267440
SN - 2504-284X
VL - 7
JO - Frontiers in Education
JF - Frontiers in Education
M1 - 842618
ER -