Why gender equity should remain a focus for the American Physiological Society

Equity is vital to enhance the quality of the science, decision making, forward progress/strategic planning, and the operations for all scientific professional societies. The best solutions and products typically come when a variety of opinions and approaches from diverse representations of our members are heard and embraced. Efforts to enhance leadership diversity to include gender, race/ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation improve inclusivity and yield a governance that is reflective of membership. All efforts to improve diversity are warranted, and this perspective will focus on discussing the merits of improving gender equity. Women are more likely to notice and challenge inequity, including sexism, than male leaders. As noted in a Harvard Business Review article, Male-dominated management teams have been found to tolerate, sanction, or even expect sexualized

Automated summary

Equity is crucial for improving the quality of scientific professional societies and enhancing leadership diversity. Efforts to improve gender equity contribute to inclusivity and a governance that reflects the membership.