ILLUMINATION CHALLENGE 100 — DAY 48
Why Aren’t More Women Attending Tech Conferences?
Mindset change needed at all levels
Women attending tech conferences like KubeCon or AWS Reinvent typically fall into the 3S categories — students, speakers, and salespeople! Very few women attend simply because they see the value in being there! I attended 3 conferences in 2019 and 99% of the folks assumed I was heading a booth (salesperson) or a student!
This is definitely an issue to be solved for employers and tech companies that want to increase the number of women in tech. Conferences are a snapshot of the people working in that field and the sparse number of women attendees highlights this emphatically.
You may have heard of stories where wives and kids tag along with male attendees and use an adjacent weekend to make it a business-travel trip! But how many husbands do the same for their wives?
Many women are unable to attend because the best conferences run for multiple days which means daycare headaches! Also, most women seem to loathe to pay for conference passes or even ask their employers to pay for it — something that men never seem to consider!
So how can we change this status quo?
While most conferences are still running virtual, many are slated to become in person again late this year, or at least early next year! When that happens, there needs to be a massive mindset shift for employers, attendees, and conference organizers!
Many conferences have sub-teams looking at diversity initiatives but there are lots more to be done!
Here are some ideas to change that:
#1 Organizers — Offer free or subsidized child care services at the conference — seriously, how come none of the conferences offer it? If you are expecting 5000+ people, surely some attendees would need it? Imagine how much you would increase your attendee pool if such services were offered! And while we are on it, how about a mother’s room?
#2 For women attendees — check if your company’s education reimbursement covers conference passes! Some large companies cover them under the same category of AWS or CFA certification courses! Some employers will also have a learning and training budget which often goes unused — this can be covered!
Also, be bold! If there is a conference you really want to attend, run the numbers first! Do not just make excuses without validating them! Do not just assume the trip is expensive/ not worth it / your partner will never come with you/ your boss will not approve the leave of absence or other such myriad objections! Let serendipity work in your favor!
#3 Employers — Do not think your employees only attend to job-hop in the future! Attendees gain a lot of value from attending conferences, and paying for their passes and travel is a much cheaper way of increasing employee engagement than paying exorbitant bonuses! Why not make it a team-building exercise and take the entire team? Many conferences and hotels offer group discounts for groups of 3 or more!
#4 Sponsors — Sponsors often receive free passes and tickets. Why not use it as a diversity initiative and dole it out to women, minority, or LGBTQ employees?
Also, once the lockdowns open, what is one tech conference you really want to attend in person again? Share in the comments below.