What women need to do to achieve #nomoremanels

I’m asked to participate – and have participated on – dozens of panel discussions throughout my career. Needless to say, I’ve been following with interest the recent conversation around #nomoremanels, which gained traction recently when André Picard, The Globe and Mail’s health columnist, declined to participate in a panel discussion at McGill University because of the 10 invited panelists, not one was female.

There’s no question that this lack of diversity absolutely needs to change. We all need to try harder and do better. And by all, I mean women too, in terms of having the confidence to put up our hands to participate, whether it’s for a panel discussion, a media interview or a seat on a board.

I’ve spoken about the issue of women not speaking up before, most recently in my article on The Critical Need to Champion the Confidence of Girls and Women. But when it really came to light for me was several years ago when I hosted a panel discussion in conjunction with The Rotman School of Management titled, I'm Not the Right Person: Closing the Confidence Gap for Women in the Media.

It was an all-female panel and an eye-opening discussion, and shortly after I penned an article about it for The Globe and Mail. I’d like to recap some of those points as it relates to the current discussion around women’s participation in panels because there’s so much that’s (sadly) still relevant several years later. To be clear: the onus doesn’t fall solely on women to solve this issue. There’s a lot of systemic change that needs to happen, including equal pay and the elimination of unconscious bias. But I firmly believe that women must play an active role in being a catalyst for that change. Here are some thoughts on how: 

Question why men are “easier” to book for engagements. I know firsthand – and I’ve also heard it repeatedly from media and conference organizers – that it’s easier to secure men for panel discussions, media interviews, and so on. While there are many reasons for this, a big one is women’s lack of confidence. In fact, I touched on this in the Globe article, and still to this day when I speak with our female clients about building their profile through speaking opportunities I hear: I don’t have anything relevant to say; that’s not my area of expertise; I don’t want to take personal credit for my team’s success. We absolutely need to stop this dialogue that “we’re not the right person.” In addition, conference organizers, the media and others need to stop falling back on established male commentators, and push harder to identify and secure the credible and authoritative female experts we know are out there.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.  I’m the first to admit that I’m not a natural public speaker. In fact, in PR school I was consistently terrified anytime I was asked to step up in front of a group.  But to grow both personally and professionally, I knew I had to get over it. And most recently, I’ve really pushed myself to look for opportunities that are outside my comfort zone. In the past year, I’ve agreed to speak at three conferences that in the past I may have declined for fear of not knowing enough about the subject matter. Choosing to participate simply involved more research and preparation to ensure that I could speak with authority. It’s always easier to decline or recommend someone else for an opportunity that seems daunting. But the next time you’re asked to do something that scares you – take a chance and do it. 

Challenge your organization to do better. Politics often play a role when it comes to who’s offered up as a company representative, particularly in male-dominated industries. If you don’t feel positioned properly to have a voice, be sure to speak up. We need to challenge companies to foster environments where women are empowered to put themselves out there as go-to contacts for media interviews, panel discussions, and more.

Importantly, there are many voices coming forward to discuss this issue, including Imogen Coe, Dean of the Faculty of Science at Ryerson University. In fact, I spoke at the Canadian Science Policy Conference (CSPC) she mentions in her article in The Globe and Mail – a conference at which I initially felt I’d be out of my comfort zone. It turned out to be a fantastic experience, and I was very pleased to learn that the CSPC has a formal policy around panel representation.

The reality is that when we decline an offer to speak up, we delegate away our authority, important perspectives and ideas are lost, and young women see fewer strong female role models. Confidence, rather than competence, is our stumbling block, and women need to recognize that, and actively work to change it.