RHN 89/2020 | Forum
Historia Agraria Approves Editorial Policy on Gender
As historians, we know that reality is not always perceptible to the naked eye. That we can look without seeing. That it is necessary to ask the appropriate questions to be able to observe phenomena that go unnoticed because they are normalized.
Gender bias in academic processes is one of them.
The vast majority of people who work in the academic field are aware of existing structural imbalances and are in favor of removing the obstacles that impede gender equality. Yet despite this, the imbalances persist.
We cannot trust that gender equality, the fifth of the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations, will be spontaneously corrected in the long term. Concrete actions need to be taken now.
The Editorial Board of the journal Historia Agraria has made the decision to explicitly and actively adopt an editorial policy on gender.
To do this, it has carried out a diagnosis of the situation, identifying the different dimensions of the editorial process, and agreed on concrete actions to achieve a maximum degree of equality in all of them. By monitoring a set of indicators for each of these dimensions of the editorial process, we will be able to check our progress towards achieving the objective of gender equality.
The declaration approved by the Editorial Board and the aforementioned indicators are publicly available on our website: http://www.historiaagraria.com/en/policy/policies-on-gender/.
It should not be necessary to assure readers that this proactive and determined commitment will not adversely affect the quality and regularity of the journal. But we have internalized structural inequality to such a degree that it would not be surprising if some harbor this doubt. Let it be clear: maximum equality is compatible with maximum quality.
In short, the Editorial Board of Historia Agraria is committed to correcting structural biases and achieving gender equality in its editorial processes in the near future. With this, it believes that it will also contribute modestly to eradicating the gender gap in academic and scientific spaces. The path is made by walking.
José-Miguel Lana, Editor
On behalf of the Editorial Board of Historia Agraria