Gender diversity of keynote speakers at virtual academic conferences

ABSTRACT

In this study, the gender representation of keynote speakers at conferences before and during the Covid-19 pandemic is investigated. Data is based on 162 academic conferences in tourism and related fields during the period 2019 to mid-2022. These conferences have 546 keynote speakers of which 4 per cent are representing low- or middle-income countries and slightly more than a third are women. Results based on Fractional Logit estimations reveal that the opportunity to attend conferences online during the pandemic does not significantly increase the proportion of women among keynote speakers. The proportion of female keynote speakers is unevenly distributed across the original regions for the scheduled conferences or the hosting institutions. It is highest for conferences organised in Australia/New Zealand and lowest in Asia. Conferences that span over several days have a relatively larger offer of female keynote speakers than shorter ones.