Thoughts and perspectives on biomechanical numerical models under impacts: Are women forgotten from research?

Abstract

The present paper explores a series of articles in the literature which deal with impact biomechanics of the head and thorax/abdomen segments, investigating the “sex specific properties/data” used in the studies. Statements in these studies are analyzed and point out, the use of male or female subjects for the developments of finite element models and their validation against experimental data. The present analysis raises the question about “androcentrism,” and how biomechanical engineering findings and the design of the derived protecting devices are focused on male subjects.

Women in impact biomechanics research

“…As Editors of the Journal of Engineering in Medicine, the Review Paper by Sebastien Roth of the Universited e Technologies de Belfort-Montbe´liard presented in this issue 1 has raised significant concerns. In the parts of the world from which we come (Australia, Canada and the UK) the gender imbalance amongst engineers is well known to be high, indeed this journal is the only one of the 16 parts of the Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers with a female Editor in Chief, and unusually our Editorial Board is 30% female.…”