Who are we? A Genealogical Perspective

Who are we? Along with the difficulty in defining genealogy at all, this is one of most interesting questions about being a genealogical researcher. The Mesa FamilySearch Library recently held a conference in Peoria, Arizona, on the westside of Phoenix, Arizona and gathered some interesting statistics on those who attended.

73% of the attendees were female and only 27% of the attendees were male. These numbers roughly correspond to my own observations. I could speculate as to the reason that the make up of the genealogical community is heavily populated with females, but my opinions would be dismissed as biased and unscientific. But in any gathering of genealogists, you are more likely to see a predominance of women over men.

The age statistics also reflect a heavy bias. Here are the numbers:

UNDER 20		6	2%
21-30		7	3%
31-40		12	5%
41-50		18	7%
51-65		62	25%
OVER 65		147	58%
		252

One obvious conclusion about the male/female relationship is likely the age factor. More women live to old age than men. According to The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation study, "Life Expectancy at Birth (in years) by Gender," on the average women live 5 years longer than men in the United States. I would think you would have to discount the attendance numbers by the number of men who came to the conference simply because their wives required them to tag along. It is also interesting to note that the percentage of the total population of the U.S. over 65 is only about 14% so the number of women over 65 involved in very disproportionate. See The World Bank, Population ages 65 and above (% of total).

My own observations of the number of younger people involved directly in genealogy would place the number far lower than these attendance figures might imply.