Facial Recognition Software Finds 78 Percent of Tech Event Speakers Are Men

No doubt a problem with the software...JL

Khari Johnson reports in Venture Beat:

Kenya (42%), Mexico (39%), and the United States (35%) had the highest rate of women speakers, while Poland (10%), Belgium (13%), and Greece (15%) had the lowest. Among industries, education (44%), marketing and advertising (39%), and human resources (39%) had the highest rates of women speakers. Internet (21%), information technology (20%), venture capital and private equity (18%), and telecommunications (16%) ranked lowest in women speakers.

Like the #MeToo hashtag expressed the pervasiveness of sexual violence against women, the lack of women on many panels has been expressed in social media with the #manel hashtag. Manel became commonly used enough that the Oxford Dictionary considered adding it last year.

And it’s no illusion: A report by events software company Bizzabo has found that 78 percent of speakers at tech events and 82 percent of speakers at events held by venture capital firms are men.

The Gender Diversity & Inclusion in Events Report was compiled using facial recognition software that went through images including more than 60,000 speakers at professional events in 23 countries.
Across thousands of professional events included in the analysis, 69 percent of speakers were men and 31 percent were women. In the United States, things are a bit more evenly split at 65 percent of speakers men and 35 percent women.
Kenya (42 percent), Mexico (39 percent), and the United States (35 percent) had the highest rate of women speakers, while Poland (10 percent), Belgium (13 percent), and Greece (15 percent) had the lowest rate of women speakers.

Among 23 industries included in the survey, education (44 percent), marketing and advertising (39 percent), and human resources (39 percent) had the highest rates of women speakers.

By contrast, internet (21 percent), information technology (20 percent), venture capital and private equity (18 percent), and telecommunications (16 percent) ranked lowest in women speakers.

By event type, conferences and conventions were further from gender parity than things like fundraisers and galas.

Before the rise of the #manel hashtag, since 2015 the All Male Panel Tumblr page has documented all-male panels. Submissions from around the world are posted along with a David Hasselhoff thumbs-up sticker.