How Diverse Are Our Conference Review Boards?

The diversity of review boards is crucial in improving the overall review quality at academic venues. In this report, we examine the review board characteristics of four major data management conferences across four diversity dimensions and over time. Our analysis shows that smaller venues have made significant strides in diversifying their review boards, whereas larger venues encounter difficulties in achieving similar diversity due to overrepresentation in certain dimensions. We emphasize the importance of intensifying efforts to create more diverse and balanced review boards and advocate for the development of tools to support this process.