Workshop Summary
Women comprise approximately half of the Society of Marine Mammalogy’s (SMM) membership and a similar proportion are first authors in Marine Mammal Science. However, like other STEM fields, women continue to be underrepresented in career positions within the field of marine mammal science, in the SMM, and similar professional societies. In addition to challenges faced by women seeking higher positions in STEM fields, women face unique barriers to success when advancing in marine mammal science.
This workshop sought to identify these barriers to success and to present strategies that individuals and institutions (including the SMM) can implement to break the barriers down. Each of the two workshop components included a combination of presentations, panel discussions, and breakout sessions that featured a diverse group of women from a range of career stages and countries working in different sectors of marine mammal science. They spoke to the challenges and successes they had experienced advancing in the field.
The specific topics were refined by a survey in advance of the workshop, and covered external and internal barriers to seeking professional opportunities, grant writing, publishing, conducting fieldwork, science communication, and - building on the foundation established by Hooker et al. 2017 - career-life balance.
The goals of the workshop were to:
While the workshop focused on women’s leadership in marine mammal science, all conference participants were welcomed.
This workshop sought to identify these barriers to success and to present strategies that individuals and institutions (including the SMM) can implement to break the barriers down. Each of the two workshop components included a combination of presentations, panel discussions, and breakout sessions that featured a diverse group of women from a range of career stages and countries working in different sectors of marine mammal science. They spoke to the challenges and successes they had experienced advancing in the field.
The specific topics were refined by a survey in advance of the workshop, and covered external and internal barriers to seeking professional opportunities, grant writing, publishing, conducting fieldwork, science communication, and - building on the foundation established by Hooker et al. 2017 - career-life balance.
The goals of the workshop were to:
- Provide a set of tools that women can use to advance their careers in marine mammal science,
- Create a virtual international network for women in marine mammal science to offer support and mentorship,
- Make recommendations to the SMM on formalizing a statement and programs related to diversity and inclusion,
- Prepare a paper for submission to Marine Mammal Science summarizing the content and outcome of the workshop.
While the workshop focused on women’s leadership in marine mammal science, all conference participants were welcomed.