Gender Check: The Electric City LSE Conference# FAIL
This week, the London School of Economics hosted, as part of its Urban Age Programm the Electric City Conference: ” a detailed investigation of how the combined forces of technological innovation and the global environmental crisis are affecting urban society.”
We are not so pleased to say that the gender ratio was 10/62 Speakers. FAIL.
This event not being an architectural conference but rather focused on social & economic topics related to urbanity, and including in the speakers list a certain amount of architects and spatial theorists and critics, one would expect a higher representation of women.
Does not seem so. The female speakers are mostly politicians, confirming the increase of women in public affairs, as men turn to more lucrative businesses (banks, etc.), sociologists , among which our beloved Saskia Sassen and only one architect.
Let’s take a look at the 10 speakers:
Frauke Behrendt– Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Brighton
Isabel Dedring –Deputy Mayor of London for Transport.
Nicky Gavron– Deputy Mayor, London 2000-2008, London Assembly Member and Chair, Planning Committee
Abha Joshi-Ghani- Director, Thematic Knowledge and Learning, World Bank Institute
Tessa Jowell – Member of Parliament, UK
Ayesha Khanna– Managing Partner, Urban Intel
Judith Mayhew Jonas– Chairman, London&Partners
Saskia Sassen– Professor of Sociology and Co-Chair Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University
Deborah Saunt– Director, DSDHA Architecture and Urban Design
Judy Wajcman– Professor of Sociology, LSE
–
So disheartening to see that one of the most advanced institution in that field is not performing well in terms of parity. Hopefully the next events in the Urban Age Program will be better balanced…
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