Previous studies have indicated that diversity is a concern in soil science, including how this relates to gender equity. However, gender equity data for soil science are extremely limited, with only the USA having a current relatively extensive study published in the scientific literature. Therefore, this study was undertaken to gain a preliminary understanding of gender equity issues in a range of countries worldwide using the gender data of membership of national soil science societies, international conferences and journals. Data for 2020 membership was supplied by 44 soil science societies, providing a broad geographic representation. Thirty-seven of the 44 societies had more male members than female. Only 32% of the soil science society members were women, although the highest percentage for an individual society was 69% female membership. Regionally, Asia had the lowest female membership at 22%, whereas Africa had the highest at 40%. Only 20% of the national soil science societies who are members of the International Union of Soil Sciences had female presidents, indicating that women are under-represented in the top leadership roles in our professional societies. Women were under-represented as keynote speakers at conferences and on many editorial boards. This initial scoping study demonstrates that there is an urgent global need to address gender equity within the soil science profession. However, gender equity extends beyond just the number of women in our profession: it also includes equal access to wages, leadership roles and decision making. We conclude that it is critical that individual countries undertake detailed studies of gender equity so we have a more complete picture of the national and international scale of this issue.

中文翻译：

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土壤科学中的国际性别平等

先前的研究表明，多样性是土壤科学中的一个问题，包括它与性别平等的关系。然而，土壤科学的性别平等数据极其有限，目前只有美国在科学文献中发表了相对广泛的研究。因此，本研究旨在利用国家土壤科学学会、国际会议和期刊成员的性别数据，初步了解世界范围内许多国家的性别平等问题。2020 年会员数据由 44 个土壤科学学会提供，具有广泛的地域代表性。44 个社团中有 37 个的男性成员多于女性。土壤科学学会成​​员中只有 32% 是女性，尽管单个学会的最高比例是 69% 的女性成员。从地区来看，亚洲的女性会员比例最低，为 22%，而非洲最高，为 40%。在作为国际土壤科学联盟成员的国家土壤科学学会中，只有 20% 有女性主席，这表明女性在我们专业学会的最高领导职位中的代表性不足。在会议和许多编辑委员会中，女性作为主旨发言人的人数不足。这项初步范围界定研究表明，全球迫切需要解决土壤科学专业内的性别平等问题。然而，性别平等不仅限于我们职业中的女性人数：它还包括平等获得工资、领导角色和决策。