Forward steps, lingering gaps: Gender representation among distinguished speakers at professional conferences

Professional conferences are an ideal venue for assessing progress towards
equity goals within and across disciplines. We examined gender disparities
among distinguished speakers at North American ecology conferences from
2000 to 2023. Women's representation has increased, especially in the
past decade, but they remain underrepresented relative to their proportion
among graduate students. Disparities persist across institutions,
disciplines, and career stages, particularly for late-career women.
Additionally, the COVID pandemic did not notably impact the representation
of women in these roles, and non-binary genders remain minimally
represented, underscoring ongoing challenges in achieving inclusive
representation. While the gap has not yet closed and the number of
non-binary speakers is vanishingly small, the emerging positive trend for
women speakers is encouraging. Plenary speakers serve as role models for
early-career scholars, and giving these talks advances their careers and
celebrates the important scientific contributions women are making at high
levels in their field.

专业会议是评估各学科内部及跨学科公平目标进展的理想场所。我们分析了2000至2023年北美生态学会议中杰出演讲者的性别差异。女性的代表性有所提升，尤其在过去十年中，但相较于其在研究生群体中的占比，她们的代表性仍显不足。这种差异在不同机构、学科和职业阶段均持续存在，尤其对资深女性学者而言。此外，新冠疫情并未对女性在这些角色中的代表性产生显著影响，非二元性别（non-binary genders）群体的代表性仍极低，这凸显了实现包容性代表制所面临的持续挑战。尽管差距尚未弥合，且非二元性别演讲者的数量微乎其微，但女性演讲者数量上升的积极趋势令人鼓舞。全会演讲者（plenary speakers）是早期职业学者的榜样，发表此类演讲不仅能推动她们的职业发展，也彰显了女性在其领域高层所做出的重要科学贡献。