June 2025

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June 2025 | Oceanography

59

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Demographics of Survey Participants

and Categorization for Analysis

The 2024 survey had 96 respondents, reflecting a 153% increase

in response rate from a similar TOS JEDI survey carried out

during OSM22 (Meyer-Gutbrod et al., 2023). While consider­

ing the survey results, it is important to acknowledge that survey

respondents and town hall attendees represent a self-​selecting

sub-population of the larger ocean sciences population. The

OSM partner societies collected limited information on attend­

ees. While the OSM24 demographic questions were more lim­

ited in scope than the optional demographic information col­

lected as a part of the TOS JEDI survey, the self-reported gender

of attendees shows that women and gender non-conforming

individuals were overrepresented in the TOS JEDI survey popu­

lation (60% and 3%, respectively) compared to the overall con­

ference population (46% and 1%, respectively). Comparing the

survey respondents’ career stages to overall OSM24 attendee

career stages, graduate students were similarly represented

(28% and 26%, respectively) and retirees/emeritus individu­

als were overrepresented (3% and 17%, respectively). All other

career stages were underrepresented in the survey respondent

group compared to the overall OSM24 attendee population:

undergraduates (1% and 6%, respectively) and early to late

career (54% and 67%, respectively). Generally, consistent col­

lection of demographic information with uniform categories

across institutions and professional societies will allow greater

ability to assess equity efforts (Sturm, 2006; Hughes et al., 2022).

Without this information, it is difficult to build robust, data-

based metrics of success.

Responses to the survey were broken down into three

groups based on self-reported, optional demographic infor­

mation: minoritized individuals (54 respondents), heterosex­

ual white women (19 respondents), and heterosexual white

men (20 respondents). Three respondents who did not wish

to provide demographic data were removed from this analy­

sis. The survey used inclusive descriptions of men and women,

and these categories may include cisgender, transgender, and

gender-​expansive individuals. A write-in option allowed trans­

gender and gender expansive individuals who did not wish to

be grouped in the binary “women” and “men” categories to self-​

describe their gender. All individuals falling outside of hetero­

sexual white women and heterosexual white men are considered

within the minoritized individuals category (i.e.,  non-white,

non-heterosexual, and/or self-​reported as belonging to a gender

minority). Survey results were grouped based on these demo­

graphic delineations for two reasons. First, as the historically

hegemonic group within Western academia, heterosexual white

men are known to be less frequently exposed to prejudice and

have fewer firsthand experiences with prejudice and discrimina­

tion (Liao et al., 2016). Second, while there has been an appre­

ciable increase in equity and inclusivity for heterosexual white

women in the geosciences over the past 40 years, minoritized

individuals have not experienced a similar benefit over the same

period (Bernard and Cooperdock, 2018). This is not to say that

heterosexual white women do not still face significant barriers

in academia, only that the barriers impacting individuals in this

group compared to barriers experienced by minoritized indi­

viduals may differ significantly. Throughout this work, we use

the terminology of Douglas et al. (2022), in which marginalized

refers to a group that is devalued based on demographic identity,

while minoritized refers to the negative experiences of under­

represented groups. Within this framework, heterosexual white

women may experience marginalization, although they are not a

strongly minoritized group in ocean sciences as a whole. As our

limited survey population did not allow for a breakdown of spe­

cific minoritized groups, we present an aggregated analysis to

maintain respondent anonymity.

Survey Responses: Perceptions of

BAJEDI in the Ocean Sciences

Survey questions 1 and 2 asked participants about their personal

experience with bias, discrimination, and bullying within ocean

sciences in the past two years. Most respondents had personally

witnessed bias, discrimination, or bullying (58%, Figure 1a), and

38% of respondents had personally experienced such behavior

over the same period (Figure 1b). Demographic composition at

each career stage shows that survey participants in minoritized

groups are currently underrepresented at higher career stages

(Figure 2a). Of our survey respondents, 46% of minoritized

individuals were graduate students. This declines at each stage,

with minoritized individuals composing only 11% of late career

and 7% of retired and emeritus faculty. Heterosexual white men

showed the opposite trend, with 5% of this group at the early

career stage increasing to 25% and 50% at the late career and

FIGURE 1. Whole population responses

from questions 1 and 2 regarding per­

sonal experiences and observations of

bias, discrimination, and bullying within

ocean sciences in the past two years in

The Oceanography Society 2024 Ocean

Sciences survey.

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