Why we shouldn’t blame women for gender disparity in academia: perspectives of women in zoology

Abstract

The following letter, from a network of women zoologists, is a reply to the article of AlShebli et al. (2020), which suggests that female protégés reap more benefits when mentored by men and concludes that female mentors hinder the success of their female protégés and the quality of their impact. This contribution has two parts. First, we highlight the most relevant methodological flaws which, in our opinion, may have impacted the conclusions of AlShebli et al. (2020). Second, we discuss issues pertaining to women in science, bring a perspective of Women in Zoology and discuss how current diversity policies are positively changing our field.

The Profile of Palaeontology Teaching in Undergraduate Courses in Brazil

“…It was also possible to observe that only 34% of the respondents identified themselves as female, data that is corroborated when compared with information retrieved from the SBP, which shows that female palaeontologists correspond to 45% of its 713 associates (Kotzian & Ribeiro, 2009;Slobodian et al, 2021).…”

“…The number of palaeontologists in Brazil is difficult to estimate. The closest available data is found in the Brazilian Society of Palaeontology (SBP) database, which points to 713 associates registered, including professionals, students, and experts from other countries (Siciliano, 2018;Resende & Rodrigues, 2019;Slobodian et al, 2021). Also unknown in the Brazilian scenario is information about the professor's profile in palaeontology teaching at the undergraduate level.…”

Beyond the species name: an analysis of publication trends and biases in taxonomic descriptions of rainfrogs (Amphibia, Strabomantidae, Pristimantis)

“…Historically, zoology has been a male-dominated field. The barriers that limited the number of women in scientific fields before the 20 th century has led to the study of animals being an exclusively male discipline ( Slobodian et al 2021 ). Herpetology is no exception, although there are now far more women in the field than men ( Rock et al 2021 ).…”

“…Issues such as gender and language biases in publications have not yet been explored. Within the biological sciences, Zoology in particular, studies in this branch have been characterized as male-dominated, imposing limitations in the professional development of many women ( Slobodian et al 2021 ). Similarly, it has been shown that, for example, in ecology and zoology the proportion of principal investigators publishing with women is lower compared to the proportion with men ( Salerno et al 2019 ).…”

Mentoring and Supporting Our Next Generation of Women Toxicologists

“…For example, women in neuroscience report challenges associated with subtle biases and stereotypes including frequent interruptions during talks and seminars, underrepresentation as authors in high-profile journals and gender gaps in salary (Machlovi et al, 2021). Similar issues have been noted by women in physiology (Gordon 2014), cell biology (Gieniec 2022), zoology (Slobodian et al, 2021) and other STEM disciplines (Birnir and Eliasson 2018;Rosser 2018). Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many of these challenges and contributed to greater gender inequities within the academic environment (Malisch et al, 2020).…”