LISA is offering grants for women to come attend the LISA 2012 conference this year. This is a Good Thing.
There are many reasons why the gender balance at conferences such as these is skewed so heavily male. Part of it is the gender balance in the profession is skewed. But it is also greatly assisted by a lower conference attendance rate by women. These grants are helping address the later point.
These grants should help LISA draw from the wider pool of potential attendees in the, "I'd love to go but there is no office budget for training this year" pool. I was in that very pool until I changed jobs, and from what I hear had I stayed I'd still be in that pool.
Hooray for them!
There are many reasons why the gender balance at conferences such as these is skewed so heavily male. Part of it is the gender balance in the profession is skewed. But it is also greatly assisted by a lower conference attendance rate by women. These grants are helping address the later point.
These grants should help LISA draw from the wider pool of potential attendees in the, "I'd love to go but there is no office budget for training this year" pool. I was in that very pool until I changed jobs, and from what I hear had I stayed I'd still be in that pool.
Hooray for them!