Where are all the women? Let me paint the scene: it’s Wednesday evening and Edinburgh TechMeetup is in full swing. Because of a projector mishap, we all crowd into a small conference room to see the presentations. I suddenly notice I’m the only woman in the room. When the guy next to me ignores the ten other bodies crammed around him and asks me to hold his beer, I realise I’m in trouble.
In general, I don’t like to talk about gender issues. Highlighting disparities between the achievements of men and women feels unproductive, and like a cop-out. Why were there no other women at TechMeetup that week? Perhaps they just had more demanding social calendars than me and the 50 men who attended.
Then again, maybe there is something more perverse than the release of SATC2 at work. On Friday, Informatics Ventures hosted “New Approaches to Leadership for Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs, Managers & CEOs”, a workshop with an exclusively female guest list, headlined by three powerhouse women from the States.
Two things made this conference different from other “women in business/entrepreneurship/tech/science” events I’ve been to in the past. (more…)
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