Participation of Women as Authors and Participants in Articles Published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management

Abstract

Every article published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, since its inception, was evaluated to determine trends in gender representation for authors and participants. Data were recorded for first authors and total authors. The number of articles describing study participants' gender also was tabulated, as was the number of females on the editorial board each year. From 1977 to 1997, the percentage of articles with a female first author increased from 7 to 43, and the percentage of total authors who were women increased from 10 to 33%. For editors, the percentage of females increased from 7 in 1977 to 11 in 1997. The increasing participation of women evident in the present data parallels findings in other areas of behavior analysis, although women continue to be underrepresented in those areas, as well as in organizational behavior management research. Across years, the percentage of articles that provided information about the gender of study participants varied widely, from 0 to 100%. On whole, roughly 50% of all articles provided this information. If gender is not reported, one cannot ascertain the population to which results generalize, or the relative representation of women as participants in research.