Conversation Boosts Women’s Participation At Scientific Meetings, Stanford Study Finds
July 1, 2019Not only are women underrepresented at scientific meetings, they participate less than men in question-and-answer sessions, self-limiting their involvement and participation. But a public discussion of the problem helps.
Recently, some prominent men in science have publicly declared they wouldn’t attend scientific meetings that don’t adequately represent women, but a new study suggests the problem isn’t just representation – women also don’t participate at the same level as men, even when they are well represented.
A Stanford-led study reports that women at scientific meetings asked questions at a level that fell well below their level of representation, but their questions picked up once the observation was pointed out. (Image credit: Getty Images)
A Stanford-led study published June 27 in the American Journal of Human Genetics reports that women asked questions at a level that fell well below their level of representation at two national genetics meetings over the course of four years.