Concurrent 5E: Mind the Gap 2: Continuing the Conversation on Gender (Dis)Parity in Scholarly Publishing
Last year’s Mind the Gap session at the 2015 SSP Annual Meeting generated significant discussion and debate on the gender gap at the top of scholarly publishing, making it clear that the conversation on this important topic should continue. Moreover, concerns about sexism and gender inequality in academia more generally have been at the forefront of the news cycle over this past year. Have we reached a tipping point in awareness of this issue and, if so, can we refocus our attention to the concrete ways that we, as a community, can close this gap? This year’s discussion will include the co-organizers’ recent article analyzing gender disparity in speaking opportunities at major scholarly publishing conferences. For instance, despite their industry majority, in 2015 only one-third of the keynote addresses analyzed were delivered by women. Among other topics, the panel will discuss the potential benefits and challenges of aligning speaking opportunities with industry demographics as one way of helping improve the gender gap in community leadership posts. We anticipate a lively and informal discussion among panelists and welcome audience participation.
