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Speaking out about gender imbalance in invited speakers improves diversity

Nature Immunology volume 18, pages 475–478 (2017)Cite this article

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Omissions of qualified women scientists from major meeting programs continue to occur despite a surge in articles indicating persistent gender-discriminatory practices in hiring and promotion, and calls for gender balance in conference organizing committees.

It is an incredibly exciting time to be a neuroimmunologist. Neuroimmune pathways in the central nervous system have been shown to contribute to the pathogenesis of an ever-expanding repertoire of neurological diseases from Alzheimer's disease to traumatic brain injury1. The explosion in novel findings in this field is evident in the numerous new conferences focused on neuroimmunological mechanisms in health and disease, including those promoted by the Gordon Research Conferences, Keystone Symposia, FASEB and Omics International Conferences. In addition to the exchange of data and ideas that advances the field, for speakers and presenters, these meetings provide an important opportunity for scientists to gain the recognition that is critical for career advancement and for recruiting young scientists to work in their laboratories.

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Figure 1: Quantification of high-impact publications among men and women invited to speak at a conference with substantial gender imbalance, and among a cohort of women neuroimmunologists who were not chosen as invited speakers.
Figure 2: Gender balance in speakers directly relates to gender balance in organizers.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robyn S. Klein is in the Departments of Internal Medicine, Pathology & Immunology, and Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.,

    Robyn S Klein

  2. Rhonda Voskuhl is in the Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.,

    Rhonda Voskuhl

  3. Benjamin M. Segal is in the Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.,

    Benjamin M Segal

  4. Bonnie N. Dittel is in the Blood Research Institute, BloodCenter of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.,

    Bonnie N Dittel

  5. Thomas E. Lane is in the Department of Pathology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.,

    Thomas E Lane

  6. John R. Bethea is in the Department of Biology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.,

    John R Bethea

  7. Monica J. Carson and Seema Kaushalya Tiwari-Woodruff are in the Division of Biomedical Sciences, University of California Riverside School of Medicine, Riverside, California, USA.,

    Monica J Carson & Seema Kaushalya Tiwari-Woodruff

  8. Carol Colton is in the Department of Neurology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.,

    Carol Colton

  9. Susanna Rosi is in the Departments of Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science and Neurological Surgery, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.,

    Susanna Rosi

  10. Aileen Anderson is in the Departments of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Anatomy, and Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine, California, USA.,

    Aileen Anderson

  11. Laura Piccio and Anne H. Cross are in the Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.,

    Laura Piccio & Anne H Cross

  12. Joan M. Goverman is in the Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.,

    Joan M Goverman

  13. Etty N. Benveniste is in the Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.,

    Etty N Benveniste

  14. Melissa A. Brown is in the Department of Microbiology-Immunology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.,

    Melissa A Brown

  15. Tajie H. Harris is in the Department of Neuroscience, Center for Brain Immunology and Glia, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.,

    Tajie H Harris

Authors
  1. Robyn S Klein
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  2. Rhonda Voskuhl
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  3. Benjamin M Segal
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  4. Bonnie N Dittel
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  5. Thomas E Lane
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  6. John R Bethea
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  7. Monica J Carson
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  8. Carol Colton
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  9. Susanna Rosi
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  10. Aileen Anderson
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  11. Laura Piccio
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  12. Joan M Goverman
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  13. Etty N Benveniste
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  14. Melissa A Brown
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  15. Seema Kaushalya Tiwari-Woodruff
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  16. Tajie H Harris
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  17. Anne H Cross
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Correspondence to Robyn S Klein.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Klein, R., Voskuhl, R., Segal, B. et al. Speaking out about gender imbalance in invited speakers improves diversity. Nat Immunol 18, 475–478 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni.3707

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