Poster Q14 - Assessing Drivers of Gender Balance and Racial Makeup of Editorial Board Members in Biomedical Engineering

Introduction: Scientific journal associate editors and editorial board members serve as gatekeepers with the decision-making power of assigning reviewers to manuscripts. Serving as an associate editor is also an important stage in a young academic’s career progression, and an indicator of high regard/acceptance within one’s academic field. For both of these reasons, it is important to have representation with members of underrepresented groups serving in these roles.

Materials and

Methods: In this study, we explored the gender and racial distribution among associate editors / editorial board members for 75 peer-reviewed scientific journals that are relevant to the field of biomedical engineering (BME). Lists of editorial board member names were analyzed using genderize.io code based on the US Social Security database to assign gender. As needed, internet searches were performed to confirm gender based on pronouns in personal web pages. A similar code was implemented to evaluate the probability of the racial background of the editorial board members. Further, we examined changes in these distributions from 2016 to 2021 for 44 of these journals, amidst shifts catalyzed by societal movements seeking equity and greater representation in leadership roles for women and persons from underrepresented minority groups. We also examined how these gender and racial distributions were associated with changes in journal impact factor (ΔJIF) from 2016 to 2022.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: Although the field of BME has a reputation for a relatively high percentage of female degree-earners, this study reveals stark disparities in gender and racial representation among editorial leadership positions, especially at the level of associate editor or editorial board member. It was found that while the proportion of female editors increased over time (18.1% to 23.9%), this proportion consistently fell short of the expected standard, based on current data about the number of BME degrees awarded. Moreover, the percentage of Black editors remained stagnant over this time frame (1%). Correlation analyses between gender, race, and changes in journal impact factor (ΔJIF) revealed nuanced trends, in some cases showing that increasing ΔJIFs were associated with decreasing proportions of female editors. The study underscores the urgent need for changes in social and policy standards to address gender and racial inequities in leadership with BME - associated journal editorial boards, both of which will be necessary to foster greater diversity and inclusivity throughout the field.

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