Communications of the ACM
Analyzing the Syllabi Gender Gap
Female authors are underrepresented as sole and first authors and as members of authorship teams in readings for undergraduate college courses, according to an analysis from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
Emerging evidence demonstrates that female-authored publications are not well represented in course readings in some fields, resulting in a syllabi gender gap, according to research described in "Diversify the Syllabi: Underrepresentation of Female Authors in College Course Readings," published in the journal PLOS ONE.
"This paper helps to increase awareness of the disparity, so instructors can intentionally create a more equitable reading list." says Amy Eyler, associate professor at Washington University and an author of the paper.
The authors selected a stratified random sample of Washington University course syllabi and examined representation of female authors at the reading, course, and discipline level using descriptive statistics and data visualization.
The final sample included 2,435 readings from 129 unique courses. The mean percentage of female authors per reading was 34.1%. Female authorship varied by discipline, with the highest percentage of female-led readings in social science (40%). The representation of female authors on syllabi was lower than representation of females as authors in the peer-reviewed literature or in the workforce.
From Washington University in St. Louis
View Full Article
No entries found