Forensic Anthropology in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Demographic, Membership, Matriculation, and Mentorship Trends during the First 50 Years of the Anthropology Section

Abstract

This article traces demographic, membership, matriculation, and mentorship trends in forensic anthropology from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Anthropology Section’s founding in 1972 through the present. The article relies on two
datasets: a larger dataset comprised of AAFS Anthropology Section membership data and a smaller dataset (Dataset II) constructed from survey data volunteered by practicing forensic anthropologists and forensic anthropology students at the master’s level and above. Both datasets indicate that while the proportion of male forensic anthropologists has remained constant over time, the number of forensic anthropologists who use female pronouns has vastly increased since the 1990s. However, though there are far more women currently in the field and more female forensic anthropologists are hired in academia, mentorship data suggest that women chair fewer master’s committees than would be expected, and they still have not reached gender parity at the PhD level. The data also suggest that AAFS student membership has driven the growth of the section since its introduction in the 1990s. However, student nonrenewal has increased over the past few years, likely in part due to COVID-19, financial hardship, and the limited number of places in forensic anthropology-focused master’s and PhD programs. Regarding the matriculation and mentorship of these students, results indicate that it is common for forensic anthropology students to receive their master’s and PhD at disparate institutions, that 30% of forensic anthropologists have mentors in other anthropology specializations, and that approximately 20% have mentors outside of academia.