Research exposes gender gap on editorial boards of finance journals

Research published in the Journal of Business Ethics has revealed that men consistently outnumber women on the editorial boards of finance journals. It also shows that editorial affiliations are heavily concentrated in the USA and UK. The study’s authors argue that ethical considerations arise when examining the representation of women on editorial boards with imbalances having an impact on academic equity and diversity of perspectives. 

According to the research, women account for an average of 20% of editorial boards with greater representation in countries with emerging economies compared to developed ones. The analysis also revealed a highly concentrated network of editors who serve on multiple boards, with relatively few holding significant influence. These findings provide new insights into inclusion and diversity in academic editorial boards, contributing to the broader discussion on equity in academia. 

Galena Pisoni, Lecturer in Data Analytics at York St John University, is a co-author of the research. She said: 

"Journal editors hold immense influence over the direction of academic disciplines, serving as gatekeepers for research dissemination and shaping the future of scholarly progress. Despite ongoing efforts by academia and publishers to foster equity and promote diversity, gender disparities on journal editorial boards remain a pressing challenge. These imbalances can have far-reaching implications for academic representation and career development." 

The study focused on journals within finance using the Chartered Association of Business Schools (ABS) ranking, with focus placed on the 2022 ABS ranking lists. These include Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and Review of Finance. All the journals are widely recognised by European higher education institutions for purposes such as research grants, hiring, and promotions. 

To address gender inequalities in finance journals, the authors suggest providing effective measures to enhance publication opportunities for women and creating networking opportunities to increase female representation on editorial boards. They propose two key approaches: incentivising journals that include female editors and penalising those that neglect diversity in their editorial boards. 

It is hoped that further research will investigate the gender gap on editorial boards across other disciplines in business and economics, in order to offer a more comprehensive understanding within a broader academic context. In addition, the authors seek to broaden the scope of their research to include journals outside of the ABS ranking, for instance new established journals and open-source platforms. Finally, this study examined the gender composition of editorial boards through social network analysis. The authors acknowledge that incorporating advanced techniques like neural networks could enhance the analysis of large datasets and provide deeper insights into gender disparities and biases. 

The full research paper titled Editorial Boards of Finance Journals: The Gender Gap and Social Networks can be viewed in the Journal of Business Ethics.