Researcher gender in long-term individual-based ecological studies [Principal Investigator Survey]

As a Principal Investigator or long standing member of a long-term individual-based project, you are invited to participate in a web-based online survey on the membership of long-term individual-based ecology studies over time. This is a research project being conducted by a small group of early-career biologists. It should take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

PARTICIPATION
Your participation in this survey is voluntary. You may refuse to take part in the research or exit the survey at any time without penalty. You are free to decline to answer any question for any reason, and your consent may be withdrawn at any point. Simply exit your browser without completing the survey if you no longer wish to participate. Since the survey is anonymous, once it is submitted it cannot be removed.

BENEFITS
You will receive no direct benefits from participating in this research study. However, your responses will help further the knowledge surrounding gender demographics of researchers in STEM, specifically in a highly important and productive segment of ecological research. Identifying biases, or lack thereof, may help us understand barriers to equality and improve the wellbeing of researchers and the projects they participate in over time.

RISKS
The possible risks of the study are minimal. You may experience some discomfort and/or frustration answering repetitive survey questions that could identify patterns in hiring practices or record keeping, for example.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Your data will be stored in a password protected electronic format. No identifying information such as your name, email address, or IP address will be collected. Only the name of the project for which you are responding will be required, which will later be coded to ensure anonymity. No one will be able to identify you or your answers, and no one will know whether or not you participated in the study. All data will be published in aggregate form, and no project(s) will be singled out or specifically identified in the dissemination of results. In the rare case that only one person has been contacted for a given project, it may be possible for your identity to be surmised based on the project for which you answer. However, identification of individuals and projects will not be possible in the final compiled dataset, nor will anyone or their project(s) be identified in the presentation of results. Because the named PI, Dr. Emily Jenkins may have an academic relationship with some of you, Dr. Jenkins will not have access to the data until it has been anonymized and the project names removed. This survey is hosted by Survey Monkey, and the data will be stored in facilities hosted in Canada. To see Survey Monkey’s privacy policy, please click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/legal/privacy-policy/

FOLLOW UP
The results of this survey will form the basis of a manuscript to be submitted to a scientific journal. If you wish to view a summary of the results or receive a copy of the submitted paper, please contact the research team via email (click Next).