Gender inequities in herpetology: the case of the Argentine community

CHULIVER PEREYRA, M; GROSSO, JIMENA; FONTANARROSA, GABRIELA; FRATANI, JESSICA; FERRARO, DAIANA; DUPORT BRU, ANA; SCHNEIDER ROSIO; CASAGRANDA, DOLORES; PEREYRA, LAURA; VICENTE, NATALIN; SALICA, M. J.; MEDINA, REGINA; BESSA, CARLA; SEMHAN, ROMINA; VERA, MIRIAM

CUADERNOS DE HERPETOLOGíA

ASOCIACIÓN HERPETOLÓGICA ARGENTINA

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

0326-551X

Women in scientific fields have achieved meaningful gains in terms of participation, and theyeven reached gender parity in Argentina. However, in spite of several documented attemptsto close the gender gap, inequalities still remain in different academic areas. Considering thatdisciplines have developed under different historical contexts and institutional settings, it isrelevant to describe gender equality indicators for them. This could also lead us to a betterunderstanding of the mechanisms modelling global patterns of gender bias. Here we presenta detailed analysis on gender proportion in different roles that researchers perform in the Argentine herpetological community. We gathered data on gender composition of the directorboards and active members of the Argentine Association of Herpetology, and the organizingcommittees and participants of the Argentine Congress of Herpetology. We also performed asurvey on gender topics to the attendants to the 20th Argentine Congress of Herpetology. Ourmain results pointed out a low number of women in the highest positions of the communityhierarchy, such as chair positions in the AHA and conferences and symposia in congress. Thisleads to a lesser visibility of women in contrast to men, and is a potential reason for the lownumber of female herpetologists as role models. Furthermore, we detected low numbers offemale herpetologists with long academic paths, depicting a major drop out of women alongtheir careers. Gender bias in science has a strong hierarchical component and this pattern wasrecovered in different scientific activities within herpetology. In this sense, directed actions andtargeted policies are required to guarantee the access of women to power positions and for thepromotion or retention for senior female researchers. Identifying the weakest points in termsof gender equality, and the areas where gender biases are historically established is necessaryto build a more egalitarian community