Opening Panel Gives Wrong Impression of FIGO World Congress of Gynecology and Obstetrics

The irony of opening the FIGO World Congress of Gynecology and Obstetrics with an almost all-male panel wasn’t lost on several attendees.

While, yes, this is an inappropriate representation of the actual world of gynecology and obstetrics — a field that wouldn’t even exist without women — the conference is also a victim of its own poor planning. Overall, FIGO has pretty decent speaker numbers with respect to gender diversity. 75% of the keynote speakers and 67% of the plenary speakers are women, so a conference that might have been recognized for its fair representation of women on stage has instead been slammed for kicking things off with a panel full of dudes.

An opening panel full of dudes gives the wrong impression of #FIGO2018, which has a fair representation of women on stage overall. Try harder next time, @FIGOHQ. Balance matters on every panel. #EveryWomanMatters #genderavenger https://www.genderavenger.com/blog/opening-panel-gives-wrong-impression-figo