Make a list!

I'm getting a bit tired of all-male or male-dominated speaker lists.  My own field (neutron scattering/high-pressure) has a good number of high-profile of women and a growing number further down the ranks and yet we are still under represented in the conferences I attend.  The same can often be said about overall diversity too.

I'm not going to spend this (short) post talking about why having a diversity policy for your conference/workshop/school is important (Jenny Martin has written an excellent post about this) but I want to urge you all to take positive action:

1. Make a list of women speakers in your field.  
2. Keep it, and add to it.

I guarantee it will be useful, to yourself - to your colleagues - or even to pass it on to a conference organiser that may have been remiss in not knowing about them.  A number of communities are setting up webpages for such lists - for instance the 'Women under High-Pressure'. 

 

Posted by Helen Maynard-Casely - Chair of the Women in Physics group