Jennifer L. Martin

“ Similarly, some will say the most important thing is diversity of thought, not speaker diversity. Diversity in life experience equals diversity of thought. Again, having a gender-balanced program is not inconsistent with diversity of thought. On the flip side, inviting the same people over and over again does not address diversity of thought.
Some will say, yes let's have a policy, but let's not make it public because that makes it look like we've had a problem in the past and are now apologising for it. There is no point having a policy if no one knows about it. ”

“ Sadly though, this is not an isolated incident: men-only invited conference speaker lists are all too common [5] .
How can we get gender balance right? To begin with, it's worth reminding ourselves why gender balance is important.
First, it's critical for the future of science that young women and men can see real evidence that scientists can succeed regardless of gender. So, if we are going to encourage women into careers in science we need also to provide role models for them to aspire to. We need to show that being a woman and being a successful scientist are not mutually exclusive. ”

“ Establish a Balanced and Informed Program Committee If the conference program committee is not diverse, then neither will be the speaker list. When I've asked male members of conference organising committees, or men in the audience, about poor gender balance or even good gender balance, they invariably tell me they don't notice the gender balance one way or the other. ”