National diversity at conferences of the International Communication Association

Abstract

ABSTRACT Academic conferences, particularly international conference venues, have been suggested as a way to overcome inequality within academic associations. In this study, we assess the national diversity of 18 annual conferences of the International Communication Association (ICA) between 2005 and 2022 and compare the composition of conference contributors to that of ICA members. Our results show that although the overall national diversity of ICA conferences has more than doubled since 2005, and closely mirrors ICA membership, the effective number of contributing countries is still very low. National diversity differs substantially between divisions and depending on the conference venue, with non-US venues exhibiting significantly more national diversity. We discuss measures to evaluate and improve ICA’s national diversity at different levels.