Global fire regimes are shifting due to climate and land use changes. Understanding the responses of belowground communities to fire is key to predicting changes in the ecosystem processes they regulate. We conducted a comprehensive meta‐analysis of 1634 observations from 131 empirical studies to investigate the effect of fire on soil microorganisms and mesofauna. Fire had a strong negative effect on soil biota biomass, abundance, richness, evenness, and diversity. Fire reduced microorganism biomass and abundance by up to 96%. Bacteria were more resistant to fire than fungi. Fire reduced nematode abundance by 88% but had no significant effect on soil arthropods. Fire reduced richness, evenness and diversity of soil microorganisms and mesofauna by up to 99%. We found little evidence of temporal trends towards recovery within 10 years post‐disturbance suggesting little resilience of the soil community to fire. Interactions between biome, fire type, and depth explained few of these negative trends. Future research at the intersection of fire ecology and soil biology should aim to integrate soil community structure with the ecosystem processes they mediate under changing global fire regimes.

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The soil science discipline has undergone significant changes since its establishment in the 1900s; from strong connections with agronomy to a broader focus on ecosystems, earth, and environmental sciences while also during this period experiencing a notable increase in diversity among soil scientists. In this review, we explore soil science from the perspective of gender demographics and disciplinary foci of soil scientists. We examine graduate student enrollment metrics; employment information in academia, the federal government, and the private sector; and membership data from SSSA to gain deeper insight into these changes and the implications for the future of soil science. Women earn nearly half of the advanced soil science degrees. The number of women pursuing soil science careers has also increased, albeit less markedly, as women now comprise 24, 26, and 20% of the soil scientists in academic faculty positions, federal agencies, and private industry, respectively. However, there is reason for concern that women linger in intermediate levels of employment, and further attrition occurs along the career ladder with only ~18% of the highest employment levels held by women; even fewer reach executive leadership levels in any sector. The growing participation of women in soil science is further reflected in a nearly 45% increase in female membership and meeting attendance in SSSA over the past decade, but recognition of their accomplishments and their presence in SSSA leadership positions remains low. We provide recommendations toward greater inclusion and gender diversity as this represents an important pathway to grow and innovate our science.