I don’t want to be too wordy here(ha!) with truisms, and I admit the following may seem preachy even though I don’t purport to be the paragon of virtue myself. However, I wasn’t seeing this point of view represented in the debate over the pledge linked here and followed up here. For those that haven’t come across this yet, the TL;DR version: Presenters may take it upon themselves to pledge that they will not speak on panels/conferences unless women are represented. A bold move for those who can afford the lack of exposure if organizers can’t successfully engage women speakers, and this idea catching on could at the very least cause tension between participants in the short term. The initial fear-mongering holds up tokenism as a probable ill effect, which I feel greatly underestimates other humans lack of desire to be a token, and the genuine truth that women who are great presenters exist in every field and are available. And if it’s someones first presentation, and they screw up, I screwed up plenty in my first presentation, everyone does, we’ll almost certainly still be the better for it as a community.

Being a white male(who speaks english fluently, among other advantages,) I’m probably best put to use in this conversation by talking to… other white males, and therefore the following is addressed to those members of my teensy audience. So in no particular order(and in no stated quantity, since ‘top N’, list posts feel kindof like cheap gimmicks) I’d like to break down other thoughts I came upon while mulling over the counterpoints to common objections, the intention of which is to help start a conversation with other conscientious individuals:

- Minorities can exist in various fluid quantities among different fields(and over time,) not as if proportions are important, but gender is a pretty big, may-as-well-be-50% potential portion of every field. So picking this larger disproportion first could be considered a great start towards equal contributions from all groups - no one’s discounting race or age or any other bias by starting with gender

- Conferences are when you get outside of your comfort zone and glimpse a world other than the one inside your particular bubble. The ‘boys club’ atmosphere and sometimes juvenile humor/alpha male attitude that comes along with it when we only interact with our closest peers could be embarrassing in front of our spouses, parents, daughters and customers. It’s a great reality check when challenged to still be appropriate and comfortable in ‘mixed company’

- Detractors are polling significantly among bald-faced trolls. As recent events may show us, we should strive to stand on the right side of history. ‘My workplace/team/department doesn’t have (m)any women’ is a saying from nearly every workplace before the turn of the previous century. It’s not political correctness, it’s helping other humans realize their ambitions. Correlation is not causation… I’ll stop before I get carried away

- Presenters outnumber organizers(duh.) Organizers could use reminders that participation is a real priority for everyone. If I felt this would endanger my chances as a presenter, which I treasure as an honor any time I’m even considered, well, I can handle the possible downsides. Not to be so melodramatic as to draw parallels to Benjamin Franklin’s ‘Liberty vs. Security’ quote, I do consider this an ethical imperative

The biggest cop-out in all of this is that I realize the pledge is the smallest of possible contributions I can make as a (white) male; Women, strong ones that will rise through the ranks in spite of the prevailing detractors and obstacles, they will be turning the tide on this. They will stand up and be(and have been) part of the initial waves of mentors and role models, irregardless of the all-too-real bias of the support structures in place in education and industry.

Should there be more/better things that we can do about this issue? Absolutely. Conference panel representation isn’t a silver bullet to break down homogenous fields that could be advanced with more perspectives, but let’s not stand still or listen to lesser instincts by discounting smaller steps like this suggestion.

Further Reading:

Unpacking Male Privilege

And More on Women Speakers at Tech Conferences