Key findings from the first Equity and Diversity Survey
20
BAMOS Dec 2024
Exploring Diversity in the AMOS community
Key findings from the first Equity and Diversity Survey
Acacia Pepler , Cassandra Rogers , Jatin Kala , Alex Borowiak and Sibyl Cheng AMOS Equity and Diversity Committee Members
Article
The Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society ( AMOS ) has over 400 members , drawn from the government , university and private sectors across Australia . AMOS hosts regular conferences — attended by more than 450 participants in 2024 — that serve as the leading forum for communicating and discussing atmosphere , ocean and climate sciences in Australia . While AMOS collects some basic membership statistics , including gender and career stage , there is currently little information on how well the Society and the sciences it promotes represent the broader demographics of Australia .
In February 2024 , AMOS launched a pilot census on the diversity of its community , promoted at the 2024 conference , particularly at events hosted by the Equity and Diversity Committee . In order to ensure that AMOS is as inclusive as possible , it is valuable to both understand the range of people and experiences currently present within our community , as well as which groups from the broader Australian society are under-represented . The results of this survey provide the first data and insights on the range of people represented by AMOS and will be used to develop future diversity efforts to make AMOS events more inclusive and welcoming to all .
Respondent overview
A total of 104 people participated in the survey , of whom 83 % are current members of AMOS . This represents approximately 25 % of the current AMOS membership . However , compared to AMOS membership statistics , the survey respondents are considerably more likely to be female ( 51 % of respondents , Figure 1 ) than the AMOS membership overall ( estimated 33 %). In addition , the proportion of respondents who identified as being either students or early-career researchers ( less than 10 years of professional experience ) was 59 %, considerably higher than the proportion of AMOS members ( approx . 29 %).
This indicates that results from this survey cannot be extrapolated to represent the full AMOS membership , particularly as promotion of the survey at diversity events may have increased response rates from those who are engaged with current diversity efforts and / or identify with one or more less well-represented groups . While this situation is not unusual for this kind of survey , it highlights a need for future surveys to be more consistently promoted across the whole community , including capturing responses from members later in their careers . However , the survey results still provide valuable insights into the diversity within AMOS and the future of the society .
LGBTQIA + community
Among survey respondents , 17 % identified as members of the LGBTQIA + community , with an additional 5 % responding that they were unsure . Notably , students and early-career researchers were most likely to respond yes ( 24 %) or unsure ( 7 %). In comparison , 7 % of people with 10 or more years of experience identified as LGBTQIA +, with 2 % unsure .
Increases in the proportion of people identifying as LGBTQIA + in younger cohorts have also been observed in Australia more broadly and suggest a growing importance of LGBTQIA + representation and inclusiveness in AMOS in the coming years . Two respondents were non-binary or used a term other than man / male or woman / female ; this sample size is too small to report statistics .
Figure 1 : Breakdown of survey responses by career stage and gender Cultural backgrounds
AMOS members come from a broad range of cultural backgrounds ( Figure 2 ), with 26 % of respondents selecting two or more cultures that are important to them , and 38 % speaking at least one language other than English . For 18 % of respondents , a language other than English was their first language , slightly lower than the proportion of Australians who use a language other than English at home ( 28 %; ABS 2021 ). While 71 % of respondents identified ( non-exclusively ) as Australian and / or Anglo-European , at least 15 % identified as East , South , or South-East Asian . In contrast , only one respondent identified as Australian First Nations , Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander , and one respondent as African . These rates are generally lower than for the Australian population , of which 3 % identify as Aboriginal or Torres-Strait Islander and 3 % were born in Africa , noting that this does not consider those born in other countries including Australia but of African descent ( ABS 2021 ).
Caring responsibilities
Almost half ( 45 %) of respondents had caring responsibilities , including 70 % of respondents with more than 10 years of experience , with rates of caring broadly similar between men and women . While the majority of caring responsibilities were for children , 10 % cared for sick / elderly / disabled family members or friends , and 15 % of all carers cared for somebody