Gender representation in faculty and leadership at land grant and research institutions

Abstract

Representation of women in agricultural science was 5% in 1979, increasing to 12% by 2005. The near equal numbers of women and men receiving Ph.D. degrees in agricultural science in 2012 (44 to 56%, respectively) would suggest an upward trend of women scientists above 12% should be occurring over time. To monitor possible trends in the representation of women in agricultural science, we quantified the numbers of women at land grant institutions at the faculty and higher administration level and in leadership positions within scientific societies, industry boards, and government research positions. The survey results showed that female faculty in the agricultural sciences increased from 12% in 2005 to 23% in 2014; however, female representation in leadership positions in academia were low, with department chairs (18%), society leadership (18–36% ranging across societies), and deans of colleges of agriculture (9 out of 50) lagging behind men. Similarly, the number of women on the executive boards of agricultural industries (11%) and at the USDA-ARS (26%) are still lower than the proportion of women with Ph.D.'s in agricultural sciences. These results suggest progress toward gender representation that reflects the number of qualified women at the faculty level, but it seems that representation is limited after the graduate training level, at the faculty level and beyond. We must be diligent in crop and soil sciences in mentoring female students and young faculty to ensure progress of female scientists to all levels of leadership in academia and the private and public sector.