Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Conference scheduling undermines diversity efforts

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 4, pages 1283–1284 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

To the Editor — Scientific conferences incorporate diversity-focused events into their programming to increase their diversity and inclusivity and to improve the conference experience for scientists from underrepresented groups (URGs)1. While simply adding diversity-focused events to conferences is positive, maximizing their impact requires that conferences organize and schedule these events to minimize well-acknowledged, problematic patterns such as the minority tax2. To our knowledge, the programming of diversity-focused events at conferences has not been systematically reviewed to identify the extent of these shortcomings and how they can be addressed.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Patterns in the targeted audiences, formats and scheduling of diversity-focused events.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

References

  1. Wilga, C. A. D., Nishiguchi, M. K. & Tsukimura, B. Integr. Comp. Biol. 57, 7–17 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Rodriguez, J. E., Campbell, K. M. & Pololi, L. H. BMC Med. Educ. 15, 6 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Dashper, K. Gender Work Organ. 26, 541–557 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Timmers, T. M., Willemsen, T. M. & Tijdens, K. G. High. Educ. 59, 719–735 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Vangerven, B. et al. Omega 81, 38–47 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Fritz, C., Yankelevich, M., Zarubin, A. & Barger, P. J. Appl. Psychol. 95, 977–983 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Sonnentag, S. & Frese, M. Comprehensive Handbook of Psychology (eds Borman, W. C. et al.) 453–491 (Wiley, 2003).

  8. Smith, W. A., Allen, W. R. & Danley, L. L. Am. Behav. Sci. 51, 551–578 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Avey, J. B., Reichard, R. J., Luthans, F. & Mhatre, K. H. Hum. Resour. Dev. Q. 22, 127–152 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Nielsen, M. W., Bloch, C. W. & Schiebinger, L. Nat. Hum. Behav. 2, 726–734 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Johnson, E. J. & Goldstein, D. Science 302, 1338–1339 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, & Behavior, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Nicholas P. Burnett

  2. Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Emily E. King

  3. Department of Biomedical and Engineering Mechanics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Mary K. Salcedo

  4. Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Richelle L. Tanner

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA

    Kathryn Wilsterman

Authors
  1. Nicholas P. Burnett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Emily E. King
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mary K. Salcedo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Richelle L. Tanner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kathryn Wilsterman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicholas P. Burnett.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Table 1, Fig. 1, Methods and Results.

Reporting Summary

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Burnett, N.P., King, E.E., Salcedo, M.K. et al. Conference scheduling undermines diversity efforts. Nat Ecol Evol 4, 1283–1284 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1276-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1276-5

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing