“Hans Schulz is vice president for the private sector and non-sovereign guaranteed operations of the Inter-American Development Bank.”
He writes for the Washington Post:
As someone who works in international development, I often participate in discussions about gender equality. We lament that there are too few female entrepreneurs, bank clients, political leaders and chief executives. We talk about the importance of including female voices and having women in leadership roles.
And yet when development conferences come together, it’s shocking how few women are invited to speak.
In the past year, I spoke at 22 conferences in 11 countries. That adds up to 296 panels of two or more people, plus 226 keynote, opening and closing speeches, for a total of 1,905 speakers. Unfortunately, only 390 — or 20 percent — of those speakers were women. Seven conferences had four or fewer female panelists. And one conference did not have a single woman on the stage…
When I attend meetings or travel for work, I bring back business cards and compile contact information of the successful women I meet.
Comments at the WP:
* The whole thing is a farce. There is nothing female about anything these people are doing. If women want to be on the stage they need to get hired and then work their way up like those men did. Just having a woman in a particular spot makes no difference in banking, particularly if she is an unqualified token.
* Begging might help. Women usually fall for this type of thing.
* Didnt like the sausage party huh? I dont blame you. Conferences, particularly those abroad, are much more fun with some ladies around.
