Trends in Women's Participation at the Meetings of the Association for Behavior Analysis: 1975-2005

Abstract

We examined women's participation, relative to men's, at the annual meetings of the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) between 1975 and 2005. Among our findings are upward trends in female presenters across formats (e.g., posters), types of authorship (e.g., first authors), and specialty areas (e.g., autism). Where women have attained parity, however, they are still often underrepresented, given their percentage of membership. Women also participate less than men as sole and invited authors and discussants and in the domains of basic research and conceptual analysis, but participate more than men in the applied domain. Data from the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis show parallel but delayed trends toward parity in basic and applied research, whereas data from The Behavior Analyst show only modest gains in the conceptual domain. We discuss the gender disparities in ABA's more prestigious categories of participation (e.g., invited addresses) and across its content domains, as well as in science in general, and the role of social and cultural factors in producing the disparities and how behavior analysts might aid in correcting them.

Figure 1

The left panel depicts the total number of female and male ABA authors on posters, symposium papers, papers, and invited events at the ABA meetings between 1975 and 2005. The right panel depicts the same data set on a percentage basis. The right panel also includes data on the percentage of female and male ABA members.

Figure 2

From top to bottom, the left and right panels depict, respectively, the total number and the percentage of female and male authors for posters, symposium papers, papers, and invited papers at the ABA meetings between 1975 and 2005. The right panels also include data on the percentage of female and male ABA members.

Figure 3

From top to bottom, the left and right panels depict, respectively, the total number and the percentage of female and male chairs of paper sessions and discussants of invited sessions at the ABA meetings between 1975 and 2005. The right panels also include data on the percentage of female and male ABA members.

Figure 4

From top to bottom, the left and right panels depict, respectively, the total number and the percentage of female and male chairs and discussants of symposia at the ABA meetings between 1975 and 2005. The right panels also include data on the percentage of female and male ABA members.

Figure 5

From top to bottom, the left and right panels depict, respectively, the total number and the percentage of female and male coauthors other than first authors, first authors among coauthors, and sole authors at the ABA meetings between 1975 and 2005. The right panels also include data on the percentage of female and male ABA members.

Figure 6

From top to bottom, the left panel depicts the percentage of female and male authors in the domains of basic research, applied research, and conceptual analysis at the ABA meetings between 1975 and 2005. The right panel depicts the data for female and male authors in three comparable journals: the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB), the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), and The Behavior Analyst (TBA) for the available years.