Gender inequities in herpetology: the case of the Argentine community

MARIANA CHULIVER; JIMENA GROSSO; GABRIELA FONTANARROSA; JESSICA FRATANI; DAIANA PAOLA FERRARO; ANA SOFÍA DUPORT-BRU; ROSÍO GABRIELA SCHNEIDER; MARÍA DOLORES CASAGRANDA; LAURA PEREYRA; NATALIN VICENTE; MARÍA JOSÉ SALICA; REGINA GABRIELA MEDINA; CARLA ADRIANA BESSA; ROMINA SEMHAN; MIRIAM CORINA VERA

CUADERNOS DE HERPETOLOGíA

ASOCIACIÓN HERPETOLÓGICA ARGENTINA

Lugar: San Miguel de Tucumán; Año: 2021 vol. 35 p. 195 - 205

0326-551X

understanding of the mechanisms modelling global patterns of gender bias. Here we present a detailed analysis on gender proportion in different roles that researchers perform in the Ar- gentine herpetological community. We gathered data on gender composition of the director boards and active members of the Argentine Association of Herpetology, and the organizing committees and participants of the Argentine Congress of Herpetology. We also performed a survey on gender topics to the attendants to the 20th Argentine Congress of Herpetology. Our main results pointed out a low number of women in the highest positions of the community hierarchy, such as chair positions in the AHA and conferences and symposia in congress. This leads to a lesser visibility of women in contrast to men, and is a potential reason for the low number of female herpetologists as role models. Furthermore, we detected low numbers of female herpetologists with long academic paths, depicting a major drop out of women along their careers. Gender bias in science has a strong hierarchical component and this pattern was recovered in different scientific activities within herpetology. In this sense, directed actions and targeted policies are required to guarantee the access of women to power positions and for the promotion or retention for senior female researchers. Identifying the weakest points in terms of gender equality, and the areas where gender biases are historically established is necessary to build a more egalitarian community