‘Run the world’ by Beyoncé booms through a hall filled with women in the Prodentfabriek in Amersfoort. On stage, a woman in a purple suit kicks off NWO Insight Out, an event for ‘women+’ in STEM research.
As a woman in computer science, it’s wonderful to be surrounded by so many people who understand you for once. Still, the day felt more like a commemoration of shared injustice than a moment for advancing women’s rights. In addition to solidarity, we need to focus more on action.
An average International Women’s Day event typically goes as follows: an inspiring speech by a woman who has achieved success despite the system, a Q&A session on how to navigate that system, workshops to develop our leadership skills, and a networking session to find kindred spirits.
QUEUEING FOR THE TOILETS
This is one of the few days of the year when we have to queue for the toilets; a privilege, because we’re rarely surrounded by women. These kinds of gatherings are a valuable sanity check, especially for young women: I’m not mad, I’m not the only one going through this. That matters.
But after attending several events of this kind, I feel sad rather than inspired. We’re more concerned with treating the symptoms than with taking real steps towards a better system. We deserve better.
Workshops to develop skills (presentation, assertiveness) are enjoyable and interesting. But how do they help us change the system?
Inequality between men and women doesn’t exist because women lack skills. The idea that there will suddenly be more female professors because we have improved our presentation skills is wishful thinking. If anything, it helps us navigate a male-dominated world, rather than actually changing that world.
We can have a far more direct impact by organising workshops on activism too: how do you bring about change within an institution? How do you turn individual frustration into collective action?
FIX THE SYSTEM, NOT THE GIRLS
To follow through on this right away, we could expand the standard networking fair to include stands from organisations committed to women's rights, so that if you feel inspired, you can join one instantly.
At NWO Insight Out, the slogan of the Expertisecentrum Voor Haar Technische Ontwikkeling (VHTO, the Dutch National Expert Organisation on Girls/Women and STEM) was repeated frequently: fix the system, not the girls. We all agree that we need to fix the system. But free discussions and Q&A sessions rarely lead to concrete measures. We shouldn’t assume that conversations during coffee breaks will automatically lead to action.
We can take a much more direct approach by agreeing in advance on the desired outcomes of our gatherings. In addition, we can structure discussions in such a way that they yield results. We already know how to do this: think of the debate on academic freedom at our university, where we discussed academic freedom in small groups.
MORE MEN NEEDED
It’s not only women who want the system to change. Diversity benefits everyone. And many of our male colleagues are motivated to help, but they feel like the events are not for them. When I put out a call within my own research group, one of my colleagues told me that he appreciated my explicit invitation, because he wasn’t sure whether he would be welcome.
That is a missed opportunity. We need more men, because they are in an excellent position to reach people who wouldn’t listen to women. As women, it’s reassuring to know that we’re not alone. And by attending these kinds of events, men get to experience the female perspective first-hand, which can inspire them to take more concrete action.
Of course, it’s essential to ensure psychological safety. Fortunately, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel: there is much to learn from movements for racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights. Events for women are often organised by women. These are passionate, empathetic women with great ambitions for their female colleagues.
This call is emphatically not a criticism of them. They organise these events alongside their regular duties, often without receiving much recognition for it. That is precisely why focusing on more activism benefits them too: by involving more people and prioritising concrete action, they no longer have to be the only ones stepping up.
Solidarity is wonderful, but solidarity that yields results is even better.
Julia Wąsala is a PhD candidate at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS)