Conference contributions by section members of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI) at international IUSSI conferences (1952–2022) are not in accordance with membership numbers

Abstract Scientific conferences are of immense importance to scientists, but the resulting benefits are only available to those scientists who can actually attend scientific meetings. So far, research at scientific conferences is mostly presented and discussed by researchers from the Global North, while researchers from the Global South are largely excluded due to various reasons. Over the past 70 years, the International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI), which is organized in 11 sections based on geography, has organized 19 international congresses. We reveal a non-equitable distribution of members with researchers from Asia and Africa being under-represented among IUSSI members. During the period from 1952 to 2022 conference contributions at IUSSI conferences came from 79 countries across the globe with members from the African and the South American continent being under-represented. Furthermore, we reveal that it does matter where a conference takes place, as contributions from authors with an affiliation to a particular continent always increase when the conference takes place on that continent. The findings suggest a notable lack of representations from certain regions in key scientific gatherings, highlighting the need for greater inclusivity in the academic community.