Shaking the Tree: Understanding Historic and Future Representation of Women at OzCHI

Abstract

Gender equity is an issue of increasing importance in the technology industry generally and HCI specifically. Women are historically underrepresented at all levels, but moreso in senior roles; conversely visible senior women increase female participation generally. In this paper we present the first scientometric analysis of OzCHI examining the interaction between gender and role seniority, showing that overall female representation is quite good, but we need to be cautious to preserve it. This is the first analysis of this type to examine the issue of gender in any HCI venue.