Who asks questions at astronomy meetings?

2017/06/02 by Sarah J. Schmidt, James R. A. Davenport
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Climate Change Communication and Perception #Conferences and Exhibitions Management #Field (mathematics) #Gender Diversity and Inequality #Law #Mathematics #Political science #Politics #Psychology #Representation (politics) #astro-ph.IM

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41550-017-0153

published as 2017 Nature Astronomy Vol. 1 id. 0153 · Nature Astronomy Comment from June 2017. Final version available at Nature Astronomy (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-017-0153 web) or (http://rdcu.be/tb3q pdf)

openalex publication_date 2017/06/02 · arxiv created 2017/08/09 · arxiv updated 2017/08/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Over the last decade, significant attention has been drawn to the gender ratio of speakers at conferences, and many meetings are evolving to better reflect the gender balance of the field as a whole. We find that women are significantly under-represented, however, among the astronomers asking questions after talks.

Citations

• Dominance as Expressed and Inferred Through Speaking Time.
• Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students