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ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Soil and Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #360464
Research Project: Precipitation and Irrigation Management to Optimize Profits from Crop Production

Location: Soil and Water Management Research

Title: Members of all genders can become fellows

Author
item DAVIS, JESSICA - Colorado State University
item Evett, Steven - Steve
item PIERZYNSKI, GARY - The Ohio State University
item BROUDER, SYLVIE - Purdue University

Submitted to: CSA News
Publication Type: Trade Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/20/2018
Publication Date: 12/6/2018
Citation: Davis, J., Evett, S.R., Pierzynski, G., Brouder, S. 2018. Members of all genders can become fellows. CSA News. 63(12):27. https://doi.org/10.2134/csa2018.63.1220.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2134/csa2018.63.1220

Interpretive Summary: The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) is a scientific and technical society with more than 8,000 members from every state in the US, and from many other countries. The Society and its membership play strong roles in promoting all five key indicators of rural prosperity listed by the Presidential Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity, but particularly the last two: Harnessing Technological Innovation, and Economic Development. Members of ASA come from all ethnicities and genders, and 17% of active members are women. However, in eight of the last ten years, women have been awarded less than 17% of the honors bestowed on members by ASA. Therefore, the Society’s executive committee encourages all members to nominate deserving women for ASA awards. This is important since award winners are highly visible role models for all agronomists but especially early-career ASA members.

Technical Abstract: The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) has been naming Fellows since 1925. It is the highest honor given by ASA. Although the word “fellow” has a male connotation in colloquial use, there does not seem to be a more gender neutral substitute for the term used in the academic or collegial sense. Although women comprise 17% of active members of ASA, in eight of the last ten years, the percentage of women awarded the Fellow honor has fallen below 17%. In ASA, the honor of being a Fellow is officially gender neutral, and we strongly encourage nomination of female colleagues for this and other ASA awards. There are many outstanding candidates for ASA awards. It is important to have female representation in Fellow and other awards since winners serve as excellent and highly visible role models for early-career members.