Limit the number of male speakers in conferences

<p>When planning a conference, there will be a forefront question: how many women should be invited to speak. Scientific conferences trade "invited speakers" as a prestige measure. Invited speakers are selected ad-hoc, which means that organizers have a natural position of power (see: <a class="wikilink" href="/the_problem_with_people_in_positions_of_power_in_academia/">The problem with people in positions of power in academia</a>). </p> <p>People (i.e. men) like complaining about the lack of women to select from to have as candidates for being invited speakers. And therefore, instead of striving for a 50% female presence, they try to do, at best, a number of female speakers completely skewed in favor of men (see: <a class="wikilink" href="/women_are_half_the_population,_not_a_minority/">women are half the population, not a minority</a>). This have a very simple solution:</p> <p><strong>LIMIT THE NUMBER OF MEN!</strong>. </p> <p>If you only find 10 women to speak at your conference, then invite no more than 10 men. Period. I am confident that if you force this policy, organizers will find women to speak at their conferences. And if they don't (women have other things to do, you know? <a class="wikilink" href="/unpaid_work_done_by_women/">unpaid work done by women</a>), just organize a smaller conference. Have fewer male speakers. Voilà, <em>out-of-the-box</em> problem solution.</p>