Countering gender bias at conferences

Conferences are the most prominent meetings for scientists and being invited to present one’s findings greatly supports visibility: it helps you become known in the community, find collaborators and generate new research ideas. All of these are essentials in the highly competitive field of science, where effective networking and international collaborations are important for academic success.

However, there is a clear gender bias when it comes to those who present at conferences. An analysis of speakers over 10 years at a European natural science conference found that only 9–23% of invited speakers were women. The problem was not only that fewer women were asked; the study found that 50% of women invited to speak declined to give a presentation, compared with only 26% of invited men.

This gender difference could be explained, in part, by family obligations. Conferences are already addressing these problems with the addition of childcare facilities, reimbursing babysitting fees and timing conferences outside of school holidays. But this is only part of the reason: women may simply feel less eager to give a monologue on stage, which makes them decline such great self-marketing opportunities.