BRAID, formerly known as Board on Women and Minorities (BWM), led an AMS membership survey in 2014, in collaboration with the American Institute of Physics (AIP), asking the respondents about their personal demographics and diversity. The key findings from that survey (Behl et. al. 2017) include the doubling of women (from 11% to 22%) participation since 1999, and slight increases in Black or African-American and Hispanic or Latino members since 1975. Unfortunately, the representation of American Indian and Alaskan Natives continues to be very low. The survey also notes that even though the number of women have increased, they remain underrepresented in leadership positions and their accomplishments are still undervalued, and people with disabilities continue to experience lack of access to valuable resources and tools in the community. A major positive outcome of the survey results is that, unlike other Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, the AMS members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer/Questioning, and Allied (LGBTIQA) community don’t feel unwelcome or unsupported. While AMS have made significant conscious commitments towards increasing diversity and have shown modest progress in certain sectors from the latest survey, there is still a lot of work left to be done.
Publications highlighting the main findings of these surveys can be found below.