Women of the Wild

Challenging Gender Disparities in Field Stations and Marine Laboratories

Victoria McDermott, Jennifer M. Gee, Amy R. May

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2022
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781978785366
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Communication Studies
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Field stations and marine laboratories (FSMLs) are sentinels of Earth's climate, providing scientists with the infrastructure to collect data in otherwise inaccessible areas of the globe. Many FSMLs were built around and continue to perpetuate male-dominated institutional ideologies, making it difficult for women, BIPOC, and those with intersecting identities to progress, succeed, and thrive. In a collaborative effort across field ecologists and communication scholars working with women navigating these spaces, this book's priorities are to: 1) document the gender history of FSMLs; 2) provide a context for the current organizational culture and understand the current communication climate dynamics; 3) explore current barriers to leadership, success, and factors that contribute to positive communication climates in FSMLs, and 4) explore strategies, programs, and interventions for supporting women's leadership roles, as well as, to develop best practices for policy, resource allocation, and field station design to better support and increase women's leadership roles in FSMLs.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction to Field Station and Marine Laboratories
• Part I: Setting the Stage of FSMLs
• Chapter 1: Defining the Role and Value of FSMLs
• Chapter 2: The Isthmus
• Part II: Experiences in the Field
• Chapter 3: “Brush your hair, apply for every grant you can, get laid as often as possible”: Women’s Muted Experiences Conducting Scientific Research in the Tropics
• Chapter 4: Make the Approach and Get the Data: Challenges, Teamwork, and Cultures of Support for Women Who Are Scientists and Parents at Field Stations and Marine Labs
• Chapter 5: Experiences of a Female Leader at Field Stations and Marine Labs
• Chapter 6: From the Standpoint of Women FSML Directors: Communication, Leadership, and the Impact of Gender Norms
• Chapter 7: Identifying Factors that Contribute to Positive and Negative Student Experiences at Field-Based Institutions
• Chapter 8: The Gift Relationship: How Mentoring Results in Success for Women in Field Station Leadership Roles
• Chapter 9: Are Field Stations and Nature Centers Gendered Work Spaces?
• Chapter 10: Women’s Perspectives on Building International Community–Field Station Collaborations: Perspectivas de las mujeres sobre la construcción de asociaciones internacionales entre la comunidad y la estación de campo
• Chapter 11: A Long (Community) Engagement: From Journalism to Field Stations
• Part III: Recommendations for FSMLs
• Chapter 12: Recommendations for Developing More Diverse, Equitable, Accessible, and Inclusive FSMLs
• Index
• About the Contributors