Women in biogeography

Despite increasing awareness of issues affecting inclusivity, equity and diversity, change has been slow in science and academia, and gender disparities remain significant. Biogeography has not escaped this pattern. Here, we present a virtual issue compiling some of the most cited papers led by women that have been published in the Journal of Biogeography since 2009 in an effort to equalize visibility of women's influential work. We summarize leading gender disparities and their potential underlying causes, and present our motivation and methodology in compiling this issue. We further provide a blog, website and social media links to highlight the research of the authors whose work is showcased here. Highlighting influential contributions by women biogeographers is a small step towards equalizing visibility across genders. We hope that this virtual issue will also contribute in some way to creating a greater sense of belonging for women biogeographers.

Automated summary

Despite increasing awareness of inclusivity, equity, and diversity issues, progress in addressing gender disparities in science and academia has been slow. This article compiles highly cited papers led by women in the Journal of Biogeography since 2009 to equalize visibility of women's influential work. By highlighting influential contributions by women biogeographers, it aims to contribute towards balancing visibility across genders and creating a greater sense of belonging for women in the field.