Academic conferences: representative and resistant sites for higher education research

Henderson, Emily F.

doi:10.1080/07294360.2015.1011093

Cited by 49 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Scientific conferences are also places where the identities of scientists are constructed; at conferences we learn what is valuable in science, who counts as a legitimate scientist, and what constitutes professional behaviour (Egri 1992;Henderson 2015). For this reason, scholars have been turning their attention towards how academic conferences might remedy (or reproduce) barriers to diversity in the earth and environmental sciences (Schroeder et al 2013;Sardelis and Drew 2016;Farr et al 2017;Hinsley et al 2017;Sardelis et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity in geoscience: Participation, behaviour, and the division of scientific labour at a Canadian geoscience conference

King

MacKenzie

Tadaki

et al. 2018

FACETS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Effective policies promoting diversity in geoscience require understanding of how the values and practices of the community support the inclusion of different social groups. As sites of knowledge exchange and professional development, academic conferences are important culturing institutions that can alleviate or reproduce barriers to diversity in geoscience. This study examines diversity at a 2017 geoscience conference, the joint Canadian Geophysical Union and Canadian Society of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology annual meeting, through observation of participation, presentation content, and behaviour in conference sessions. Across 256 observed presentations, women constituted 28% of speakers, whereas women of colour made up only 5%. Participation rates differed between disciplinary sections, with the most populous sessions (Hydrology and Earth Surface) having the lowest percentage of women. Examination of presentation content reveals that the methods and scholarly contributions of both women and people of colour differed from the majority, suggesting an intellectual division of labour in geoscience. Examination of audience behaviours between presenters reveals how a "chilly climate" can be experienced by women and other marginalized demographics in conferences. We argue that there is more to be done than simply increasing numbers of women or other minorities in geoscientific spaces, and we suggest pathways to making geoscience a more inclusive and democratic pursuit.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity in geoscience: Participation, behaviour, and the division of scientific labour at a Canadian geoscience conference

King

MacKenzie

Tadaki

et al. 2018

FACETS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Conferences bring together expertise and manifest institutional strengths. They provide a showcase for different institutional takes on the emerging research questions and a marketplace in which individuals can assess who they might wish to work with and where (Fontes et al., ; Henderson, ). Many of the institutional moves identified within our analysis had origins in contacts developed at the IMGS or reputations established at the IMGS.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Presenting health and medical geography: People, places, and change

Moon

Sabel

2019

Geographical Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Assessments of the development of geography as a discipline, and studies of sub‐disciplinary development within geography, have generally focused on the subject matter under study. Consideration has concentrated on topics, theories, methods, and paradigm shifts identified by analyses of published literature. There has been rather less interest in the spatialisation of the practice and performance of the discipline by people and institutions (though there have been exceptions) and equally little attention to the evidence provided by geographical conferences. We address these lacunae in current knowledge through a quantitative study of changing disciplinary endeavour in health geography as evidenced by participation in the International Medical Geography Symposia. For 35 years this biennial meeting has been the flagship conference for health and medical geographers. We have obtained, reviewed, and coded the proceedings of all 17 symposia, analysing the submitted papers by location of symposia, lead authorship, affiliation, and country of authorship. We investigate the globalisation of the sub‐discipline and changes in key institutional involvement. Novel network analysis methods are used to identify changing linkages between research centres. What emerges is a complex sub‐discipline driven by the changing neoliberal context of higher education and marked by both continuities and discontinuities in its practitioner networks.

show abstract

“…There has been increasing interest in opportunities that conferences provide for participants to network and learn. In the area of learning, some studies have examined the extent to which conferences provide suitable environments for learning (Burford, Henderson, & Pause, 2018;Henderson, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Academic Conferences as Learning Sites: A Multinational Comparison of Doctoral Students’ Perspectives and Institutional Policy

Fakunle

Alla-Mensah

Izard³

2019

IJDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explore trends and motivations for doctoral students’ participation in domestic and international conferences. We draw on doctoral students’ perceptions and experiences from four contexts (USA, Scotland, England, Australia) to further explore variations across different global contexts. Background: There is increased recognition of the importance of conferences within doctoral education. Yet very little is known or understood about doctoral students’ participation and motivations for participating in conferences. Methodology: Our sample includes doctoral students from four institutions studying in a School of Education. We used an online survey and follow-up focus group interviews to investigate doctoral students’ perceptions and experiences of conferences. Contribution: There are few studies on doctoral students’ participation in conferences. This study contributes to the literature on doctoral students as it investigates the trends and rationale for doctoral students’ participation in national and international conferences. We highlight the importance of conferences as learning sites for doctoral students. Furthermore, our research highlights dissimilarities and ambiguities in the provision of support for doctoral students’ regarding what we describe as the social aspect of their researcher learning and development, in this case, in networking activities. Findings: Our findings show that a) at both the individual (doctoral students) and institutional level, there is an implicit understanding of the importance of networking and yet programs rarely formally require conference attendance; b) students’ motivations to attend conferences may be mediated by their career aspirations and supportive structures (i.e., funding); and c) conferences support doctoral students’ learning and confidence in future networking. Recommendations for Practitioners: Our recommendations to doctoral education training programs and/or supervisors are to explicitly discuss and promote networking and/or conference attendance, and to find ways to support students to engage in networking outside their immediate study environment. Recommendation for Researchers: Our recommendation to researchers is to further investigate the importance of networking behaviors and experiences on doctoral student training and/or career outcomes. Impact on Society: This research highlights the importance of recognizing the learning needs of doctoral students who are expected to work in a complex, globally connected society as part of the reality of higher education in the 21st century. Future Research: Results from the study could help inform a larger study on the trends and motivations of doctoral students’ networking across all disciplines.

show abstract

Academic conferences: representative and resistant sites for higher education research

Cited by 49 publications

References 37 publications

Diversity in geoscience: Participation, behaviour, and the division of scientific labour at a Canadian geoscience conference

Diversity in geoscience: Participation, behaviour, and the division of scientific labour at a Canadian geoscience conference

Presenting health and medical geography: People, places, and change

Academic Conferences as Learning Sites: A Multinational Comparison of Doctoral Students’ Perspectives and Institutional Policy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About