Navigating diversity: Assessing gender inclusivity at the 2023 Association of Geographical Societies in Europe (EUGEO) Congress
Abstract
Academic gender inequalities have been acknowledged as a long-standing issue. At conferences, a key arena for academic career development, these inequalities manifest themselves in various ways. This article aims to contribute to the debate on these issues by analysing, from a gender perspective, the EUGEO Geography Congress held in Barcelona in September 2023. The research comprises both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The main findings indicate some disparities in the number of male and female participants and in the evaluations and perceptions of men and women during the conference. While both genders generally provided positive evaluations of the conference, women placed greater emphasis on the supportive environment. Additionally, gender disparities were identified in debate participation and feelings, with women expressing less comfort and security during discussions. The research aims to contribute to reflections on gender representation at academic conferences and to provide ideas for possible strategies to foster greater inclusion at such conferences.
Keywords
conference, geography, Barcelona, gender, academic wellbeingReferences
BIGGS, Jacklyn; HAWLEY, Patricia H. and BIERNAT, Monica (2018). “The Academic Conference as a Chilly Climate for Women: Effects of Gender Representation on Experiences of Sexism, Coping Responses, and Career Intentions”. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 78, 394-408. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0800-9
BIERNAT, Monica and HAWLEY, Patricia H. (2017). “Sexualized images in professional contexts: Effects on anticipated experiences and perceived climate for women and men”. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 47, 568-583. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12461
BLUMEN, Orna and BAR-GAL, Yoram (2006). “The Academic Conference and the Status of Women: The Annual Meetings of the Israeli Geographical Society”. The Professional Geographer, 58 (3), 341-355. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9272.2006.00572.x
BURKINSHAW, Paula (2015). Higher Education, Leadership and Women Vice Chancellors; Fitting into Communities of Practice of Masculinities. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
CALISI and WG MOTHERS OF SCIENCE (2018). “How to tackle the childcare-conference conundrum”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), 115 (12), 2845-2849.
D’ÁVILA, Manuela (2019). Revolução Laura: reflexões sobre maternidade & resistência. Caxias do Sul, RS (Brasil): Belas Letras.
DROOGLEEVER, Joos (2004). “Gender representation and participation in Dutch human geography departments”. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 28 (1), 133-141. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309826042000198701
GRAVES JR, Joseph L.; KEARNEY, Maureen; BARABINO, Gilda and MALCOM, Shirley (2022). “Inequality in science and the case for a new agenda”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 (10), e2117831119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2117831119
HOYT, Crystal L. (2010). “Women, Men, and Leadership: Exploring the Gender Gap at the Top”. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4 (7), 484-498. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00274.x
HARDING, Sandra (2023). Science and social inequality: Feminist and postcolonial issues. Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
HOHTI, Riikka and TRUMAN, Sarah E. (2021). “Anglocentrism in the Academy: On Linguistic Privilege, Mastery and Hoito”. Reconceptualizing Educational Research Methodology, 12 (2), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.7577/rerm.4675
ISBELL, Lynne A.; YOUNG, Truman P. and HARCOURT, Alexander H. (2012). “Stag Parties Linger: Continued Gender Bias in a Female-Rich Scientific Discipline”. PLOS ONE, 7 (11), e49682. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0049682
KING, Leonora; MACKENZIE, Lucy; TADAKI, Marc; CANNON, Sara; MCFARLANE, Kiely; REID, David and KOPPES, Michele (2018). “Diversity in geoscience: Participation, behaviour, and the division of scientific labour at a Canadian geoscience conference”. Facets, 3 (1), 415-440. https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2017-0111
MADDRELL, Avril; STRAUSS, Kendra; THOMAS, Nicola J. and WYSE, Stephanie (2016). “Mind the gap: gender disparities still to be addressed in UK Higher Education geography”. Area, 48 (1), 48-56. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12223
MOLLETT, Sharlene and FARIA, Caroline (2018). “The spatialities of intersectional thinking: fashioning feminist geographic futures”. Gender, Place & Culture, 25 (4), 565-577. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2018.1454404
MOSS-RACUSIN, Corinne A.; DOVIDIO, John F.; BRESCOLL, Victoria L.; GRAHAM, Mark J. and HANDELSMAN, J. (2012). “Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students”. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 109 (41), 16474-16479. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1211286109
MOUNTZ, Alison and HYNDMAN, Jennifer (2006). “Feminist approaches to the global intimate”. Women’s Studies Quarterly, 34 (1/2), 446-463.
MÜLLER, Martin (2021). “Worlding geography: From linguistic privilege to decolonial anywheres”. Progress in Human Geography, 45 (6), 1440-1466. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132520979356
NIELSEN, Mathias Wullum; BLOCH, Carter Walter and SCHIEBINGER, Londa (2018). “Making gender diversity work for scientific discovery and innovation”. Nature Human Behaviour, 2 (10), 726-734. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0433-1
PARKER, Brenda (2016). “Feminist forays in the city: Imbalance and intervention in urban research methods”. Antipode, 48 (5), 1337-1358. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12241
POTVIN, Dominique A.; BURDFIELD-STEEL, Emily; POTVIN, Jacqueline M. and HEAP, Stephen M. (2018). “Diversity begets diversity: A global perspective on gender equality in scientific society leadership”. PLOS ONE, 13 (5), e0197280. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197280
PUJOL, Hermínia; GARCÍA-RAMÓN, Maria Dolors and ORTIZ, Anna (2012). “El profesorado universitario de geografía en España y sus trayectorias profesionales: una mirada de género”. Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles, 59, 323-344.
RIGG, Lesley S.; MCCARRAGHER, Shannon and KRMENEC, Andrew (2011). “Authorship, collaboration, and gender: Fifteen years of publication productivity in selected geography journals”. The Professional Geographer, 64 (4), 491-502. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2011.611434
SCHURR, Caroline and SEGEBART, Dörte (2012). “Engaging with feminist postcolonial concerns through participatory action research and intersectionality”. Geographica Helvetica, 67 (3), 147-154. https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-67-147-2012, 2012
SCHURR, Carolin; MÜLLER, Martin and IMHOF, Nadja (2020). “Who makes geographical knowledge? The gender of geography’s gatekeepers”. The Professional Geographer, 72 (3), 317-331. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2020.1744169
SEIERSTAD, Cathrine and HEALY, Geraldine (2012). “Women’s equality in the Scandinavian academy: A distant dream?”. Work, Employment and Society, 26 (2), 296-313. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017011432918
SETTLES, Isis H. and O’CONNOR, Rachel C. (2014). “Incivility at academic conferences: gender differences and the mediating role climate”. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 71 (1/1), 71-82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0355-y
SMOOTH, Wendy G. (2016). “Intersectionality and women’s advancement in the discipline and across the academy”. Politics, Groups, and Identities, 4 (3), 513-528. https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2016.1170706
STORME, Tom (2014). Exploring a small world: motivations and obligations for academic travel in a Flemish context. Ghent University. Faculty of Sciences. Retrieved from https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/5714262
STORME, Tom; BEAVERSTOCK, Jonathan V.; DERRUDDER, Ben; FAULCONBRIDGE, James R. and WITLOX, Frank (2013). “How to cope with mobility expectations in academia: Individual travel strategies of tenured academics at Ghent University, Flanders”. Research in Transportation Business and Management, 9, 12-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2013.05.004
VALENTINE, Gill (2008). “The ties that bind: Towards geographies of intimacy”. Geography Compass, 2 (6), 2097-2110. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8198.2008.00158.x
WERNER, Marion; STRAUSS, Kendra; PARKER, Brenda; ORZECK, Reecia; DERICKSON, Kate and BONDS, Anne (2017). “Feminist political economy in geography: Why now, what is different, and what for?”. Geoforum, 79, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.11.013
WEST, Jevin D.; JACQUET, Jennifer; KING, Molly M.; CORRELL, Shelley J. and BERGSTROM, Carl T. (2013). “The Role of Gender in Scholarly Authorship”. PLOS ONE, 8 (7), e66212. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0066212
WILLIAMS, Joan C.; PHILLIPS, Katherine. W. and HALL, Erika V. (2014). Double Jeopardy? Gender Bias Against Women of Color in Science. WorkLife Law, UC Hastings College of the Law. https://doi.org/10.13140/2.1.1763.8723
YSSELDYK, Renate; GREENAWAY, Katharine H.; HASSINGER, Elena; ZUTRAUEN, Sarah; LINTZ, Jana; BHATIA, Maya P.; FRYE, Margaret; STARKENBURG, Else and TAI, Vera (2019). “A leak in the academic pipeline: Identity and health among postdoctoral women”. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01297
ZIMMERMAN, Mary K. (2000). “Women’s health and gender bias in medical education”. In JACOBS KRONENFELD, J. (Ed.). Health Care Providers, Institutions, and Patients: Changing Patterns of Care Provision and Care Delivery (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, 17). Leeds: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 121-138. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0275-4959(00)80042-3
Published
How to Cite
Downloads
Copyright (c) 2025 Liliana Solé Figueras, Briana Bombana, Anna Ortiz Guitart
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
