Ways to write an academic life: Queering the academic curriculum vitae

The curriculum vitae (CV) is a short account of one’s career and qualifications typically prepared for a position or promotion. In academia, the CV chronicles a representation of the academic self in terms of scholarly activities such as publications, research grants and projects, conference participation and teaching awards. Far from being a neutral record, the CV (re)produces gendered norms and highlights continued gender inequalities in academic careers. This article explores how the CV is made possible (and consequently measured and valued) through material practices as well as via discourses of productivity, employability and success. It does this by embracing Jack Halberstam’s concept of ‘queer failure’ and Karen Barad’s theory of ‘intra-action’ in an experimental auto-ethico-ethnography of the academic CV. Using a diffractive approach, this article also calls into question the separation of the body and the materiality of the CV, our emotional relationship with the CV, as well as gendered academic labour. In theorising the CV through the lens of performativity, attention is reoriented towards the assemblage of relations and intra-actions between academic, writing, the career, the body and representation and reveals them to be complexly located within and through each other.

Changes in Use of Communication Channels by Livestock Farmers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The study aims to identify any changes in the communication channels used by Slovenian livestock farmers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the main (dis)advantages of relying on them. An online survey was completed by 502 Slovenian farmers of various farm enterprises in winter 2020/2021. Most respondents generally used telephone, e-mail, and the internet to obtain agricultural information before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, farmers increasingly relied on online conferences and social networking sites. At the same time, younger farmers and farmers with a higher education level used digital channels the most frequently, with men doing so more often than women. Digital channels were primarily used by cattle and horse farmers, while cattle farmers showed the greatest online conference participation. Respondents reported having more time to spend with their families and animals as an advantage and the lack of face-to-face interaction with other farmers and advisers as a disadvantage of such communication patterns. As the study reveals differences in the use of communication channels during the COVID-19 pandemic by various farmers, a new communication strategy is needed that involves the use of appropriate communication channels to provide farmers with agricultural information both during the COVID-19 situation and later.

Improving Diversity and Promoting Inclusion in the Society for Epidemiologic Research Through Choice of Conference Location

Scientific conferences provide attendees opportunities to network, share research, learn new skills and ideas, and initiate collaborations. Conference attendance is especially important for students and early-career researchers who are establishing their research careers or looking for jobs. However, attending conferences can be expensive, and the high cost of conference attendance might hit students and early-career researchers the hardest. According to a new member survey from the Society for Epidemiologic Research, early-career members are more racially and ethnically diverse than senior members, meaning that reducing financial barriers to conference participation might be an important consideration for increasing diversity among conference attendees. In this commentary, we discuss how choice of conference location—choosing less expensive cities nearer to more Society for Epidemiologic Research members—could reduce financial and other barriers to conference attendance for all members and improve diversity and inclusion in the Society.

The extent and drivers of gender imbalance in neuroscience reference lists

Like many scientific disciplines, neuroscience has increasingly attempted to confront pervasive gender imbalances within the field. While much of the conversation has centered around publishing and conference participation, recent research in other fields has called attention to the prevalence of gender bias in citation practices. Because of the downstream effects that citations can have on visibility and career advancement, understanding and eliminating gender bias in citation practices is vital for addressing inequity in a scientific community. In this study, we sought to determine whether there is evidence of gender bias in the citation practices of neuroscientists. Using data from five top neuroscience journals, we find that reference lists tend to include more papers with men as first and last author than would be expected if gender were not a factor in referencing. Importantly, we show that this overcitation of men and undercitation of women is driven largely by the citation practices of men, and is increasing over time as the field becomes more diverse. We develop a co-authorship network to assess homophily in researchers’ social networks, and we find that men tend to overcite men even when their social networks are representative. We discuss possible mechanisms and consider how individual researchers might address these findings in their own practices.