Representation of women in behavior analysis: An empirical analysis.

Abstract

As in other disciplines, women were underrepresented in behavior analysis in its early decades. Over the years, multiple articles have documented increasing trends in women's representation in behavior analysis in areas such as contributions to the scholarly literature and participation in professional associations. The purpose of the present article was to extend this line of investigation by more comprehensively evaluating the participation of women in behavior analysis in a variety of areas and by analyzing participation by age cohort and career point to detect progress that might be masked by overall patterns. Our data indicate that substantial progress has been made in the participation of women in our discipline.

Authorship trends in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis: An update

“…It is difficult to identify with certainty the cause(s) of increased representation of women and junior authors. Perhaps women academics in “younger cohorts” (i.e., ages 25–34 and 35–44; see Nosik et al, 2019) are successfully publishing more frequently and are beginning to represent a greater proportion of behavior‐analytic faculty and researchers. If this is the case, it would be surprising, and indeed concerning, if there was not a strong presence of women in article authorship.…”

Why WIBA?

“…Although the body of literature regarding women's issues in behavior analysis is relatively meager (i.e., approximately 40 publications in academic journals over the past 40 years), two recent contributions are worthy of note. First, at the inaugural WIBA conference, Melissa Nosik presented her recent analysis of data on women's representation in various career milestones-including professional recognition (e.g., awards, appointments), professional organization leadership, invited presentations, editorial board appointments, publication trends, faculty hires, and certification-and shared an overall career milestone analysis (Nosik, Luke, & Carr, 2018). Nosik et al (2018) found women were underrepresented in the categories of professional recognition, invited presentations, and editorial board appointments.…”

“…Despite being underrepresented, women's participation showed dramatic growth in editorial board appointments and publication trends. From 1978 to 2016, the percentage of women authors increased in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) from 17.7% to 61.5% and in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) from 7.0% to 35.2%; however, a decrease was noted in The Behavior Analyst (TBA) from 27.0% to 24.2% (Nosik et al, 2018). From 1979 to 2016, JABA increased women editorial board members from 25% to 41%, and JEAB increased representation from 7.7% to 29.4%.…”

“…The primary findings of Nosik et al (2018) and Li et al (2018) focused on the publication and editorial trends of the scientific community of behavior analysis. Although these data are encouraging and demonstrate gains toward parity, Nosik et al (2018) anchored their data in relation to age cohorts and career milestones often associated with later career achievement. These findings yield little information regarding milestones of early career women behavior analysts, as well as the practice community.…”

“…In addition, although women's participation in scholarly publications and editorial trends in behavior analysis are increasing, it may not be increasing at the rate of the practice community. Given that 88% of Board Certified Behavior Analysts in 2016 were female (Nosik et al, 2018), it is conceivable that publication rates and participation on editorial boards should be greater. It is important that the behavior-analytic community ensures that women attain the skills to access the opportunities where female representation has been lagging.…”