“To Be a Featured Speaker at a Scholarly Meeting, It Helps to Be Male”

This year’s meeting of the Renaissance Society of America featured four plenaries, all given by men. The debate this set off among Renaissance specialists is the most recent example of a broader conversation that has been gathering momentum as scholars at conferences, on email lists, and on Twitter do their own tallies of speakers and panelists at professional gatherings. What those counts show is that the playing field is far from level.