GenderAvenger started tracking Boston Data Festival 2016 in early August when their speaker list consisted of only 3 women (9.7% of overall presenters). A day before the event, they have now reached 13 women speakers. While this is a vast improvement from the original 3 women that GenderAvenger reported a month ago, 20% women speakers is still nothing to brag about for a conference that claims to “highlight the diversity of people, start-ups, and companies dedicated to this domain.” It just goes to show that playing catch up doesn’t work. Gender balance has to be deliberate and a part of the planning process for conferences and events from the very beginning.
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