Scientific conferences all too often feature all-male panels, resulting in underrepresentation of women in these fields. Researchers at Yale University and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that there is a simple way to increase the number of female speakers at conferences – ensure that at least one woman is in charge of organizing the conference.
The symposia convened by all-male teams contained 25 percent female speakers on average. For the symposia in which the convener teams included at least one woman, women comprised an average of 43 percent of speakers—which meant that including at least one woman among the conveners increased the proportion of female speakers by 72 percent compared with symposia convened by men alone.
These findings have been featured in The Scientist, The Atlantic, and Live Science.
The original research journal article can be found here.
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