Women in transport geography: Gender differences in research topics

Abstract

Transport Geography has historically been one of the most male-dominated subfields in Human Geography. This article explores how research themes within the Journal of Transport Geography (JTRG) have evolved alongside the moderate increase in representation of female-led authors. We apply text analysis techniques, including word frequency analysis, BERTopic modeling, and logistic regression, to identify thematic differences between female-led and non-female-led research articles published in the journal since its inception in 1993. Our findings suggest that female-led research is more likely to engage with mobility, social justice, gender disparities, and youth travel, diverging from the subdiscipline's historically quantitative and optimization-driven roots. The study highlights the impact of gender diversity in shaping the intellectual landscape of Transport Geography and calls for continued efforts to promote inclusivity within the field as a means for expanding its intellectual bounds.