June 2025 | Oceanography
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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.