The #Manel in 2026
On International Women’s Day, I have a message for organizations that regularly organize events such as conferences. If you can’t find a woman for a panel of experts, hire me to do it.
There’s no excuse for the all-male panel in 2026. Yet here we are.
How is it possible that any of the sponsoring organizations thought this was a great idea? I also question why any of these SEVEN men, when made aware of the identities of their fellow panelists, didn’t stand down and recommend a female colleague?
What about these panelists at the 5th Indo-Pacific Strategy Forum?
Trust me when I tell you that there are plenty of women who could have also spoken with authority on this topic.
When I post one of my, ‘Congratulations on your all-male panel’ comments on social media, few engage. Sometimes though, a participant will get in touch to assure me that they never realized that they were booked for an event with no female representation.
That’s hogwash.
No one agrees to participate in these events without knowing who else is going to be on stage.
I had an interesting interaction last fall when an event organizer chastised me for not recognizing the hard work she and her female colleagues had done to plan their all-male panel. The thing is, if you invite more than two panelists for a discussion, at least one should be a top-notch woman. They exist and excel in every domain. If you can’t find them, you’re not trying hard enough.
One tip I’ve given event organizers is to contact the first guest who comes to mind and ask them to recommend a female colleague who would do a equally great job. If they sound confused, tell them you’re committed to demonstrating that their field isn’t a boy’s club. It works!
At an absolute (yet still disappointing) minimum, ask a woman to moderate the discussion.
In the Globe and Mail’s 2024 “Moral Courage” event about investigative journalism, there were four speakers and two interviewers. All were men. This from an organization that employs several women who’ve won awards for their enterprise journalism. There are dozens more at news outlets across Canada. In this case, the four reporters were from foreign countries. I would like to think it considered inviting 2021 Nobel-winning Filipina journalist Maria Ressa, Nigerian Emmy-nominated BBC journalist Kiki Mordi, or Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald who first exposed Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities.
Incidentally, all three are known for taking down horrible men in positions of power and influence. I encourage you to click the links and read or watch their work.
So, when I recently stumbled across this announcement for a live Q&A, my jaw dropped.
Good grief! Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine has roughly 20 female assistant and associate deans including the chief operating officer. I believe they too were once med students.
International Women’s Day reminds us that gender equality is still a long way off. We can make a difference by highlighting the economic, cultural and political achievements of women at every conference throughout the year. That would give us more to celebrate in 2027.
