I’m used to being one of the few women in a room full of men. Whether I’m attending a seminar or closed door meeting, or speaking at an event, I am typically in a minority. It’s no one’s fault, as I have often told myself. The scholarly world of international politics, security and defence is largely a male domain.
Twice in recent months, though, I’ve found myself in female-only gatherings organised by leading policy institutes. The first was a programme by a think-tank to engage more women in security discussions, the second was a luncheon designed to tap funding from businesswomen. One organiser explained that there’s a recognition that the donor community has been a “homogeneous pool of men who work in similar industries”. Women, it turns out, not only share similar interests to men but have the means and will to promote research.
It’s refreshing that the gender diversity debate has reached the mannish space of policy research. Much of the wisdom imparted by experts has for too long been skewed by uniformity. That means we have been losing out on an important perspective in policy research.