All voices welcome - A case for gender quotas at tech conferences

Men dominate the IT world – we see this in our teams, at events, and on conference stages. Currently, we find around 20% women in the industry. At IT events and conferences, their share is often significantly lower, both among participants and as speakers. We often argue that women simply need to be more involved or better in what they do. But this perspective ignores the fact that men have been benefiting from networks that ensure visibility, career opportunities, and influence for years. Women, on the other hand, often lack access to these crucial resources. In this talk, we’ll not only explore why we all benefit from diverse teams. We’ll also understand why women have so far been less well-connected and what structural and social barriers lay behind this. We’ll recognize that equal opportunities don’t happen automatically but must be actively created. And last but not least, we’ll find concrete ways how we can contribute to this – as individuals, in our teams, as a company, or as a community. A deliberately increased quota of women at conferences is just one of the steps to make female role models visible, strengthen networks and achieve true diversity and inclusion in the IT industry in the long term.