Rampant gender-based harassment and discrimination are recognized problems that negatively impact efforts to diversify science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. We explored the particularities of this phenomenon in the geosciences, via focus groups conducted at STEM professional society meetings, with the goal of informing interventions specific to the discipline. Using grounded theory analysis, two primary drivers for the persistence and perpetuation of gender-based harassment in the geosciences were identified: a particular history of power dynamics and maintenance of dominant stereotypes, and a pattern of ineffective responses to incidents of harassment and discrimination. Informed by intersectional feminist scholarship by women of color that illustrates how efforts to address the underrepresentation of women in STEM without attending to the overlapping impacts of racism, colonialism, ableism, and classism will not succeed, we view harassment and discrimination as structural problems that require collective solutions. Continuing to recruit individuals into a discipline without changing its fundamental nature can tokenize and isolate them or encourage assimilation and acceptance of deep-seated traditions no matter how damaging. It is the responsibility of those in power, and especially those who hold more privileged status due to their social identities, to contribute to the dismantling of current structures that reinforce inequity. By providing explanatory illustrative examples drawn from first-person accounts we aim to humanize the numbers reported in workplace climate surveys, address gaps in knowledge specific to the geosciences, and identify interventions aligned with an intersectional framework that aim to disrupt discriminatory practices endemic to the geosciences and larger STEM community.

/pdf/maybe-this-is-just-not-the-place-for-me-gender-harassment-1fwygvan.pdf

"Maybe this is just not the place for me:" Gender harassment and discrimination in the geosciences

01003, USA; Nigel Golden, Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Univ. of Massachusetts, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA; Laura A. Stevens**, Marine Geology and Geophysics, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, 61 Route 9W, Palisades, New York 10964, USA; and Ellen Alexander, Dept. of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, Univ. of California, 595 Charles Young Drive, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA

/pdf/does-our-vision-of-diversity-reduce-harm-and-promote-justice-58u0ef5ykf.pdf

Does Our Vision of Diversity Reduce Harm and Promote Justice

Breaking down barriers: The identification of actions to promote gender equality in interdisciplinary marine research institutions

The Institutional Life

Gender equity, providing for full participation of people of all genders in the oceanographic workforce, is an important goal for the continued success of the oceanographic enterprise. Here, we describe historical obstructions to gender equity; assess recent progress and the current status of gender equity in oceanography by examining quantitative measures of participation, achievement, and recognition; and review activities to improve gender equity. We find that women receive approximately half the oceanography PhDs in many parts of the world and are increasing in parity in earlier levels of academic employment. However, continued progress toward gender parity is needed, as reflected by metrics such as first-authored publications, funded grants, honors, and conference speaker invitations. Finally we make recommendations for the whole oceanographic community to continue to work together to create a culture where oceanographers of all genders can thrive, including eliminating harassment, reexamining selection and evaluation procedures, and removing structural inequities. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Marine Science, Volume 15 is January 2023. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Gender Equity in Oceanography.

Inequalities persist in the geosciences. Women and people of color remain underrepresented at all levels of the academic faculty, including positions of power. The proportion of women among geoscie...

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2021AV000436

Trends in the Representation of Women Among US Geoscience Faculty From 1999 to 2020: The Long Road Toward Gender Parity

The oldest recognized proxies for low atmospheric oxygen are massive iron-rich deposits. Following the rise of oxygen ~2.4 billion years ago, massive iron formations largely disappear from the geol...

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2020GC009113

A New Depositional Framework for Massive Iron Formations After the Great Oxidation Event

Quantitative scanning electron microscopy (SEM) quartz microtextural analysis can reveal the transport histories of modern and ancient sediments. However, because workers identify and count microte...

/pdf/meta-analysis-of-cryogenian-through-modern-quartz-2u8bbn226i.pdf

Meta-analysis of Cryogenian through modern quartz microtextures reveals sediment transport histories

Dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) forms in minor quantities in few modern environments yet comprises most of the Precambrian carbonate rock record. Precambrian dolomites are often fine-grained and fabric-reten...

Julia Wilcots

Papers

Trends in the Representation of Women Among US Geoscience Faculty From 1999 to 2020: The Long Road Toward Gender Parity

A New Depositional Framework for Massive Iron Formations After the Great Oxidation Event

Meta-analysis of Cryogenian through modern quartz microtextures reveals sediment transport histories

Nanoscale crystal fabric of primary Ediacaran dolomite