Heather L. Ford, Cameron Brick, Margarita Azmitia, Karine Blaufuss, Petra S. Dekens

Presenting at scientific conferences is key to academic career progression. Scientists don’t just communicate results; they also develop relationships with collaborators and mentors, and identify job and funding opportunities. Giving a talk confers recognition and prestige, particularly for students and early-career researchers. Despite historical inequities, women are now presenting more at conferences and colloquia. These gains are especially visible at conferences that are organized by women or that specifically support early-career participants. We found that US scientists from minority racial and ethnic populations already under-represented in science had relatively fewer speaking opportunities at a key scientific conference over a four-year period than their proportion in the sample would predict; the imbalance was most severe for women. This disadvantage for under-represented minority groups held across career stage.