TY - JOUR
T1 - Bridging the Gender Gap
T2 - The Demographics of Scientists in the USDA Forest Service and Academia
AU - Kern, Christel C.
AU - Kenefic, Laura S.
AU - Stout, Susan L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences 2014. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/11/25
Y1 - 2015/11/25
N2 - Past research has established that diverse scientific communities foster innovation and problem solving more effectively than communities with a narrow range of knowledge, skills, and experience. However, gender diversity among scientists is limited, particularly in natural-resource fields. We compared data on scientist gender and rank from the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service Research and Development (FSR&D, a hierarchical organization) with data on faculty gender and tenure status from universities (loosely coupled systems) with comparable areas of study. We found that the representation of women was greater among FSR&D scientists than among university faculty but declined with seniority in both institutions. Within FSR&D, data showed demographic inertia, suggesting that the representation of women in senior scientist positions will increase. Although many mechanisms affect gender representation, our findings suggest that organizational structure affects the diversity of the scientific workforce.
AB - Past research has established that diverse scientific communities foster innovation and problem solving more effectively than communities with a narrow range of knowledge, skills, and experience. However, gender diversity among scientists is limited, particularly in natural-resource fields. We compared data on scientist gender and rank from the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service Research and Development (FSR&D, a hierarchical organization) with data on faculty gender and tenure status from universities (loosely coupled systems) with comparable areas of study. We found that the representation of women was greater among FSR&D scientists than among university faculty but declined with seniority in both institutions. Within FSR&D, data showed demographic inertia, suggesting that the representation of women in senior scientist positions will increase. Although many mechanisms affect gender representation, our findings suggest that organizational structure affects the diversity of the scientific workforce.
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U2 - 10.1093/biosci/biv144
DO - 10.1093/biosci/biv144
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84960957504
VL - 65
SP - 1165
EP - 1172
JO - BioScience
JF - BioScience
SN - 0006-3568
IS - 12
ER -