Cartoon: Mars Needs Women!
Written by Rob Cottingham / August 2, 2009 12:51 PM
/ 17 Comments
I had a big, long post written up here about how, with a very few exceptions, the speaker lineup at most tech conferences is disproportionately, staggeringly, overwhelmingly male. (And at least with the ones I've been at, pretty damn white, too.)
But so much has been said in such better ways by people better positioned to comment intelligently - the issue recently earned its own hashtag, which tells you something - that I deleted the whole thing.
Instead, I just want to ask: why is it taking so long for social media conferences to start reflecting the diversity, if not of the population at large, then at least of the amazing people doing such cutting-edge, innovative work in this sector?
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cmon, everyone knows that technology is a mans game!
Ok, I'm joking. I agree, why aren't there any women here? How are nerds like me supposed to find a date?
Rob,
Very good point. I do believe that this phenomenon has been going on since the dawn of High Tech, Dot Coms, Web 2.0 and now Social Media. It's what I call the Tech Blogger effect - where the same people interact with their peers creating a fairly powerful echo chamber effect.
I think the BIG difference with Social Media is we finally have a domain (and engagement model) that has crossed the chasm with regards to the early adopters and developers in this space which aren't your typical "propeller head techies".
I've slowly watched this transition as more and more of what we used to call "high technology" has been placed into the hands and made directly accessible to the unwashed masses. It's just taken many of the conference organizers to realize the innovation and creativity are no longer solely in the hands of the "hard core techies".
Hopefully they'll begin to realize this and move outside the comfortable confines of tech themed ghetto.
abitv
Rob, I have spoken a couple of times now at various conferences about using social media in public relations and communications, and I've always been the only "girl" on the panel.
My observation from these experiences and others has been that the men talk about the nuts-and-bolt side of things--"we optimized for mobile" or "we upgraded to Wazoo 6.0 to generate a whole new user interface" (heavy on the tech-speak--you get the idea), while the few women speakers focus more on the touchy-feely side of things--"this is how we applied social media in a practical way and this is where it got a bit scary and this is how it worked out for us."
In general (and of course there is always a risk in generalizing, so everyone please hold your fire) I have found that the questions women audience members ask to be quite different than the questions men ask: the women seem to want to understand the gestalt of the matter, while the men prefer to focus on the individual parts that make up the whole. The women look at the stew, as it were--the men, at the ingredients that went into it. (This is neither good nor bad, right nor wrong; it's just the way the sexes seem to line up to me.)
I think it would be helpful if more conference organizers aimed to include more social-media savvy women in their line-ups. It would likely draw a broader audience, and would offer a different lens on this fast-changing field. It would also accommodate different learning styles. Maybe it would help if the organizers thought of it as just another type of value-added mash-up?
Good point and thanks for bringing it home. I know that Rebecca Bollwit tweeted about this topic back at NV09 when she commented to the effect that some of the female speakers seemed to be more about style than substance...
I was disappointed in correspondence with Tim O'Reilly that he indicated that he'd like to book more women, but a) there are hardly any who hold important enough positions to speak at a conference that is at Fortune 500 CEO, decision-making level, b) those few are overbooked or have been used other years in the conference and they need someone new to draw crowds, and c) are they really best serving attendees if they have to book according to 'identity politics' (more women and more visible minorities really on the basis of those identities).
I think he - and from what I've read, other conference producers - would say that a) and b) are why it's taking so long.
I haven't yet read a strong response to the 'identity politics' argument from a guy - perhaps you'd take a go at that.
You'd expect a fair number of people to show to the Internet Dating Conference (Miami, London and L.A.) but its surprisingly male dominated. I'd say about 75% male. In contrast the Matchmakers Conference (New Jersey) is 90% female.
What about the #BlogHer conference that just happened?
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Nice comic.
All tech conference organisers should know about .
Also worth checking out the Geek Feminism wiki, e.g. .
Gah! My links disappeared. That should be http://geekspeakr.com/ and http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Women_speakers .
Hot woman with hot technology
nice!
So nice post,thanks
I have noticed the same trend in the conferences i have attended too and i had been musing about this for quite a while. A woman's presence especially in making presentations on stage lightens up the conference. So female techies out there get onto your feet. we want to see more of you.
The sad thing is that it's especially important for women in tech to be visible in such ways as speaking at conferences in order to encourage young women to consider this field for a career. A recent study by Dr Penelope Lockwood that women need role models of their own gender far more than men do: http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2006/03/women-need-female-role-models.html
From personal experience, I'd have to agree: I got involved in interaction design after being introduced to a fantastic woman who did usability, and was further goaded by learning about people such as Brenda Laurel, Whitney Quesenberry and Fiona Raby. I'm sure there are appropriate speakers around somewhere: what about Dori Tunstall, Genevieve Bell, the woman at Xerox? I think the industry just needs to look a little harder.
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But Vicky, I think that may be the problem. I don't think we should be narrowing the field to "women in tech" but rather we should be looking for "women who USE tech." It used to be that social media was the sole domain of the tech-geeks, but I think the lines are quickly blurring between the tech and non-tech worlds, and you no longer need a degree from MIT (or a penis!) to use social media in a thoughtful, intelligent and results-driven way...
...also, to Lisa's point about not being able to find highly placed women to speak: again, my own experience is that the highly placed women (and men, for that matter) are NOT the ones within their organizations that are actually consulting on and/or using social media. Good luck finding a.) a female VP and b.) a female VP who "gets" social media...but if they're out there, for heaven's sake, let's start hearing from them! Please!
I blog while female with children, therefore I am a "mommy blogger". (Ok, granted, my Twitter handle pegged me as a mom, so maybe my whining is not really fair...) I can't wait for the day when all the male bloggers with children are automatically labeled "daddy bloggers"! Another one of my pet peeves: Stereotypes about women who are technologically oriented (or at least, not "idiotic" about it) fall into a dichotomy: we are either manly-looking & asexual, or we are piping hot like Felicia Day. See what's wrong here?!
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Savita
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