Women Underrepresented on the Editorial Boards of Major Journals in Statistics and Biostatistics

A new study by Andrea Foulkes a professor of mathematics and statistics at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, finds that women comprise less than a quarter of editorial board members on prestigious journals in statistics and biostatistics. The small percentage of women on the editorial boards of these publications is contrasted by the fact that over the past 17 years, 40 percent of all doctorates awarded in statistics and biostatistics have been earned by women.

The report states that “editorial boards of scientific journals are among the most influential bodies in the academy, as they collectively make critical decisions about the dissemination of research findings to the larger community.” The study also points out that membership on “an editorial board is considered a significant milestone with respect to criteria for promotion at academic institutions, particularly from the rank of associate to full professor.”

Professor Foulkes received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She earned a doctorate in biostatistics from the Harvard School of Public Health.

The full report, “Study Reveals Gender Imbalance on (Bio)statistics Editorial Boards,” was published in AmStatNews, a publication of the American Statistical Association. It may be accessed here.