AAG Snapshot: AAG Disciplinary Data Dashboard
Are you interested in trends in geography? Have you been looking for openly available datasets to investigate aspects of our discipline for a report or research project? We have the answers for you in our freely accessible data resource, the AAG Disciplinary Data Dashboard.
It is important for researchers, students, and other information-seekers to have a single place to go to and easily find consistently updated disciplinary facts and figures. To meet this need, the AAG has created the Disciplinary Data Dashboard as a central repository for visitors to easily and freely access and utilize data on geography as a field of study.
The AAG has always gathered and made available annual data in two key areas:
- AAG Membership Data. Collected via membership forms which all AAG members have the option to complete when renewing membership or on the online member profile page.
- Geography Department Data. Collected via the Guide to Geography Programs and the departmental data form, which is circulated annually to geography departments with the call for Guide updates.
Data is conveniently located through the AAG website on the Disciplinary Data Dashboard page. Alternatively, the Dashboard can also be found from the AAG homepage under the Projects & Programs tab. From the Disciplinary Data Dashboard, you can find downloadable Excel spreadsheets with raw data on membership by type, employment category, gender, race and ethnicity from the last 40+ years (from 1972 to present)! All future data collected will also be available here.
AAG staff have also created, and will continue to create, brief, annual summary reports (white papers) presenting and visualizing the data in charts, tables, and other graphics. These reports, available through the Dashboard, also include some analysis and interpretation of the raw data.
Additional Dashboard Sections. Read the descriptions below for additional sections and data available in the Disciplinary Dashboard.
- AAG Departments Data. Data found in this section comes from The Guide as well as the National Center for Educational Statistics. It includes information about geography programs in departments throughout the Americas as well as figures for the numbers of geography degrees conferred. Results of diversity surveys sent to geography departments are also located here.
- AAG Workforce Data. This section is a work in progress, but includes a link to our Salary Data & Trends website featuring data on over 90 occupations related to geography. We also plan to have a report soon on our Jobs in Geography (JIG) website providing analysis of job ads posted to the AAG online job board over time and several other reports related to geographers in the workforce
- Special Surveys. This section includes links to non-annual surveys on various topics, usually linked to grant-funded AAG projects.
- AAG Annual Meetings. This includes raw data and analytical reports on AAG Annual Meetings held since 1904, including venues, attendance, international participants, session/paper topics, Presidential addresses, and more!
- AAG Journals Data. This section is also still a work in progress, but will eventually include raw data and an analytical report on the four AAG peer-reviewed scholarly journals: The Annals of the American Association of Geographers, the Professional Geographer, the AAG Review of Books, and GeoHumanities.
- AAG Archival Data. This includes information on how to access archival council reports/minutes, records of past AAG Annual Meetings, AAG journals/newsletters, and the “Geographers on Film” series (a collection of interviews with hundreds of influential geographers since 1970).
Important Note about the Disciplinary Data Dashboard Structure. Data is categorized by source in the left column and searchable by theme in the right column. The goal is to make it more intuitive for particular audiences (students, researchers, etc.) to know where to look for specific data resources. The section searchable by theme also includes some externally-collected data and resources from outside of the AAG such as data from The College Board on high school Advanced Placement (AP) programs or The Social Science PhDs-5+ Years Out survey from the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE).
The Disciplinary Data Dashboard is a valuable resource both to those browsing for more information about geography, but also for those pursuing in-depth research on the discipline. The amount of free, raw datasets available could easily support and be the foundation for research projects and publications!
Questions? Contact Mark Revell at mrevell [at] aag [dot] org.
The AAG Snapshots series, first launched at the 2017 Annual Meeting, provides insight on and information about different aspects of the projects, programs, and resources of the association. Do you have suggestions for future Snapshots content from AAG staff? Email cluebbering [at] aag [dot] org.