New report shows how tough it is for women in tech, especially at conferences

New report shows how tough it is for women in tech, especially at conferencesNew report shows how tough it is for women in tech, especially at conferencesIt all started because of a bathroom Tweet.Lin Classon, director of public cloud product at Ensono, was at the Amazon Web Services conference in 2017, where she did what shed done before snapped a photo of an empty bathroom. With 40,000 people at the conference, she found it odd that the womens facilities were empty and pristine.Shed done this before, at another conference, but this Tweet had traction, gathering attention from women at the gathering and even internationally who could instantly relate some of them Tweeting back photos of themselves in empty bathrooms at their own tech conferences.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraWhile an empty womens room was nice, she told Ladders, I would rather have traded the convenience for more women and the conference and in the industry in general.Attending conferences is important for people in many industries, and especially in tech. Classon attends two to three per year due to her role. First, theres the direct matter of her job I need to understand the new technologies coming out, the new services our partners are rolling out, she says. But theres a secondary purpose Its a place where you actually exchange ideas with your colleagues, and where you are building your network. You go, get your name out there. It helps you as you evolve along your career path.Thats why so many women in the industry are speaking out about how tech conferences are not friendly or representative to women.Ensono, the company Classon works for, recently created a report about bringing more womens voices to tech conferences with more female keynote speakers, panel members, and attendees. The tech company surveyed, via a third party, 500 women from the U.S. and the U.K. who have been tec h conference attendees.For context, women hold 25% of computing jobs, by some estimates, with the representation of U.S. women in tech remaining flat over the last three years, according to McKinsey.FindingsOn average, women made up 25% of all keynote or standalone speakers in the past three years. Twenty-five percent is an average, Classon says. In some years, there were conferences where there were no female keynote speakers at all. Can you imagine what kind of message that sends out to women in our industry? Almost like, You dont belong here. What kind of message are you sending to women who are just coming out of school and just choosing their career path? I always say, You cannot believe what you cannot see.There was only a 4% increase in the number of female speakers in tech conference lineups from 2016 to 2018Yet, 76% of women are more likely to attend a conference with a keynote speaker, panelist, or other types of program that features a woman.The lone woman problem 70% of women survey who have sat on a panel at a tech conference report being the only woman.Sexual harassment is also a problem at conferences, with some creating a code of conduct for attendees as a result. For some reason, being at a conference with a code of conduct means a woman is more likely to experience sexual harassment.Attending conferences which are instrumental in professional development for men and women alike is particularly difficult for mothers.According to the report, the following had been witnessed by attendeesMothers room 26%Childcare stipend 19%On-site daycare 22%Conference-hosted womens meetup 29%Sessions geared towards women 35%None of the above 30%In the beginning of my career, when my kids were a lot younger and I wasnt comfortable leaving them with somebody for three days, I would always go back to my manager and say, You know what, I cant go, said Classon. Having kids and raising kids, we are forced to make the decision.If you have to skip conferences, youre on an uneven playing field, Classon says. I cant stress enough the importance of knowing a lot of people in your industry.Classon suggests conference organizers could raise female attendance by providing accommodations to take care of children. After all, We should never assume childcare will only benefit women, she says. She says she has never seen on-site daycare in all the conferences she has attended. She also suggests offering a stipend for childcare for those leaving kids at home.Ultimately, she said, its about everybody. Having stronger female representation onstage is definitely the step towards true inclusion.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people