Research Presented at Conventions: How Well Are Women Doing?

The article focuses on a study on gender productivity in the field of mass communication. This study is a content analysis by authorship and research preference of all the refereed papers accepted to the conventions from 1987 to 1993. Variables include gender and Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication division, thus making it possible to determine not only the overall scholarship status of women within the organization but also to identify representation levels with respect to each specific area of discipline. This study indicates that women are out-producing men on a per capita basis when refereed convention papers are considered. The 28 percent of the organization's membership that is female has in recent years been producing nearly half of the refereed convention research. The study also contributes to the understanding of differences in gender research preference. By identifying paper acceptance rates by division, it became possible to determine areas of increasing scholarship by women and even areas of dominance.