Getting Gender On The Agenda
From left to right: Catherine Clüver-Ashbrook, Any Gutmann, and Emily Haber
Walking the walk: Female power on stage at the U.S. – German Futures Forum in Münster
By Savita Joshi
It was the early afternoon of the first conference day, when a soft chatter of conversations filled the Plenary room on the sixth floor of the Atlantic Hotel. However, the crowd, a sea of business casual pantsuits and blouses, quickly fell quiet as Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, Senior Advisor at the Bertelsmann Foundation, stepped out onto the stage. Soon after her initial opening remarks, Ashbrook was joined by German Ambassador to the U.S., Emily Haber and US Ambassador to Germany, Amy Gutmann. These three women, powerful leaders and speakers, not only set the tone for the next two days, but they also reflected the U.S. – German Future Forum’s dedication to making sure that women have a voice at the table.
It is important to note that the US German Futures Forum, a two day conference that brought together experts and participants from the US and Germany to discuss the topic of “Digitization and Democracy”, had a notable number of female-identifying contributors and speakers. This is because it is no secret that politics and diplomacy are historically male dominated spaces, where women have to fight to take part and have their voices heard. The Futures Forum, however, did not share these characteristics.
On the contrary, there was a very large amount of female representation in the speakers, and participants. To be specific, out of 147 listed invitees, 75 stated their gender as female, which is a little over 50 percent, and doesn’t account for the 3 people that did not specify their gender. Additionally, out of 24 speakers, 12 of them were women. These high numbers suggest that the Futures Forum actively sought out female voices, a move that shows awareness of the need to amplify voices which are not normally given a platform to express themselves.
However, while the attendees and speakers were diverse in gender, the topic of gender itself was not one that was discussed openly during the conference. Some participants felt that this missing piece is an important one. Alexandrea Swanson, Co-Managing Director of #SheTransformsIt, an initiative to get more women involved in IT, is one of those people.
Swanson believes that the reason that gender was not a central topic at the Futures Forum is mainly because of the setting. “The initial goal is to start a conversation about this topic, which is a big first step”, she explains. And while it was a good move in the right direction, Alexandrea has ideas for what helpful following actions might be.
“I think the next level would be taking inclusion into consideration”, she says. “My focus wouldn’t really be on the Futures Forum itself, but more so on how we can have other working groups to make sure that minority voices are heard.” By working groups, Swanson is referring to the break out sessions that took place on the first day of the conference. In them, small groups gathered to discuss topics like, “Advancing Democracy and Human Rights Online” and “Reinforcing Democracy at Home: Delivering Democracy Digitally”.
Having minority groups, and women specifically, in the room is an essential piece to the puzzle. But sometimes, Swanson points out, people are more focused on having a balanced panel (in regards to characteristics like gender and race) than actually amplifying minority voices. In other words, they let the idea of diversity get in the way of making real change. According to Swanson, the reason that representation is so important is because “when we look at resolutions that are voted on, the ones that last longer, are more successful, and lead to more peace in civil society, are the ones that have a variety of actors, and specifically women, who are involved in the decision-making process.”
It is now known that having women involved in politics influences both what types of policies are passed, as well as how these changes are implemented. Things like gender equality, access to healthcare, and quality education, are often prioritized when women are engaged in policy making. Furthermore, a study shows that there is a direct correlation between having women in office, and the creation of legislation that is focused on women, children, and families. This is just one study, of many, which shows how having strong female representation in politics benefits minorities and more vulnerable populations.
Additionally, gender plays a crucial role when it comes to the issue of digitization and democracy. As of 2022, approximately 63.1% of the world’s population is online, according to Statista. However, less women have access to the internet than men, and in landlocked and developing countries this gap becomes even wider. Having access to the internet is beneficial in many ways. It can increase economic opportunities, help people stay connected to their community, inform people of important information, and more. Therefore, it is a huge disadvantage to not be online, one that disproportionately affects women.
The need for protection of marginalized groups is more important now than ever before, due to the rapidly increasing climate catastrophe. All around the globe we are seeing larger and more intense natural disasters, which disproportionately affect less wealthy populations who are not able to prepare for them, or bounce back from them. In 2021, the EPA published a report that outlines the fact that socially vulnerable groups in the U.S. are more impacted by climate change than others. However, this issue does not stop at the U.S. borders, and in order to protect these marginalized groups (women included), we must also address who is coming up with the policy and technological innovations intended to address it.
Prof. Dr. Maya Göpel touched on this during her talk on the first day titled, “Setting the Scene: Making our democracies fit for 2050”. After diving into the topic of the anthropocene, and the importance of the common goods that need protecting, Göpel ended her speech by emphasizing the need for more transparency for technological developments. She explained how, “humans still create technology, and so they’re always pre-constructed in a human mind. They’re an answer to a question someone poses with a particular outlook on life, a particular interest in bringing that about.”
She calls upon us to think about who these actors, who are driving this technology are, and what their agendas are. It may come as no surprise that often, they are not people that have the good of the planet or its most exposed populations in mind. This is dangerous, as the frameworks created by those at the top directly affect us all. “If we’re talking about running our societies in the future with those kinds of infrastructures, they should be made much more transparent”, she said.
While transparency is a very important element to a more just and stable future, having a more varied group of people behind big decisions in technology
and policy is also imperative. This is why spaces like the Futures Forum are so important, Swanson says. They give people the opportunity to ask hard questions and discuss possible ways forward. For Swanson an important question she kept coming back to was “what impact does technology have on democracy, and can technology help us come through on that promise that democracy makes?”, with one of those promises being not only gender equality, but equality for other minority groups as well. In order to do this, Swanson reiterates that we need to “make sure other minority groups are included in these decision making processes”.
One of the last conference speakers, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, is an example of someone who is actively working to promote women through policy decisions. For example, since she took office in 2021, Baerbock has pledged to develop Germany’s Feminist Foreign Policy. This is made up of what she calls the three R’s: the promotion of rights, representation, and resources of women and marginalized groups.
In a speech she gave in September of 2022, Baerbock explained the importance of this policy. “Feminist Foreign Policy implements what we defined years ago as “human security”. It puts the spotlight on people, regardless of their background, gender, belief or who they love. If we focus particularly on women and marginalized groups, it makes our security policy more comprehensive. It makes it and us stronger.”
During the panel discussion between German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, which took place on the last day of the conference, Baerbock reinforced the importance of a Feminist Foreign Policy in response to a question posed by Swanson. She said that, while policy issues like those connected to women’s rights in Iran and Afghanistan need to be addressed, “at the end it always comes back to yourself and your own ministry, and I think that there we can do many things”. Additionally, she also ended by emphasizing the fact that there is always room for improvement.
It seems like that is one of the biggest takeaways from the U.S. – German Futures Forum: that change is coming, and minority representation (gender included) is an issue that is starting to really be addressed, but there is still so much more that can be, and should be done. Luckily, continuing to host conferences and discussions like this one is a critical part of the solution.
It is important to note that the US German Futures Forum, a two day conference that brought together experts and participants from the US and Germany to discuss the topic of “Digitization and Democracy”, had a notable number of female-identifying contributors and speakers. This is because it is no secret that politics and diplomacy are historically male dominated spaces, where women have to fight to take part and have their voices heard. The Futures Forum, however, did not share these characteristics.
On the contrary, there was a very large amount of female representation in the speakers, and participants. To be specific, out of 147 listed invitees, 75 stated their gender as female, which is a little over 50 percent, and doesn’t account for the 3 people that did not specify their gender. Additionally, out of 24 speakers, 12 of them were women. These high numbers suggest that the Futures Forum actively sought out female voices, a move that shows awareness of the need to amplify voices which are not normally given a platform to express themselves.
However, while the attendees and speakers were diverse in gender, the topic of gender itself was not one that was discussed openly during the conference. Some participants felt that this missing piece is an important one. Alexandrea Swanson, Co-Managing Director of #SheTransformsIt, an initiative to get more women involved in IT, is one of those people.
Swanson believes that the reason that gender was not a central topic at the Futures Forum is mainly because of the setting. “The initial goal is to start a conversation about this topic, which is a big first step”, she explains. And while it was a good move in the right direction, Alexandrea has ideas for what helpful following actions might be.
“I think the next level would be taking inclusion into consideration”, she says. “My focus wouldn’t really be on the Futures Forum itself, but more so on how we can have other working groups to make sure that minority voices are heard.” By working groups, Swanson is referring to the break out sessions that took place on the first day of the conference. In them, small groups gathered to discuss topics like, “Advancing Democracy and Human Rights Online” and “Reinforcing Democracy at Home: Delivering Democracy Digitally”.
Having minority groups, and women specifically, in the room is an essential piece to the puzzle. But sometimes, Swanson points out, people are more focused on having a balanced panel (in regards to characteristics like gender and race) than actually amplifying minority voices. In other words, they let the idea of diversity get in the way of making real change. According to Swanson, the reason that representation is so important is because “when we look at resolutions that are voted on, the ones that last longer, are more successful, and lead to more peace in civil society, are the ones that have a variety of actors, and specifically women, who are involved in the decision-making process.”
It is now known that having women involved in politics influences both what types of policies are passed, as well as how these changes are implemented. Things like gender equality, access to healthcare, and quality education, are often prioritized when women are engaged in policy making. Furthermore, a study shows that there is a direct correlation between having women in office, and the creation of legislation that is focused on women, children, and families. This is just one study, of many, which shows how having strong female representation in politics benefits minorities and more vulnerable populations.
Additionally, gender plays a crucial role when it comes to the issue of digitization and democracy. As of 2022, approximately 63.1% of the world’s population is online, according to Statista. However, less women have access to the internet than men, and in landlocked and developing countries this gap becomes even wider. Having access to the internet is beneficial in many ways. It can increase economic opportunities, help people stay connected to their community, inform people of important information, and more. Therefore, it is a huge disadvantage to not be online, one that disproportionately affects women.
The need for protection of marginalized groups is more important now than ever before, due to the rapidly increasing climate catastrophe. All around the globe we are seeing larger and more intense natural disasters, which disproportionately affect less wealthy populations who are not able to prepare for them, or bounce back from them. In 2021, the EPA published a report that outlines the fact that socially vulnerable groups in the U.S. are more impacted by climate change than others. However, this issue does not stop at the U.S. borders, and in order to protect these marginalized groups (women included), we must also address who is coming up with the policy and technological innovations intended to address it.
Prof. Dr. Maya Göpel touched on this during her talk on the first day titled, “Setting the Scene: Making our democracies fit for 2050”. After diving into the topic of the anthropocene, and the importance of the common goods that need protecting, Göpel ended her speech by emphasizing the need for more transparency for technological developments. She explained how, “humans still create technology, and so they’re always pre-constructed in a human mind. They’re an answer to a question someone poses with a particular outlook on life, a particular interest in bringing that about.”
She calls upon us to think about who these actors, who are driving this technology are, and what their agendas are. It may come as no surprise that often, they are not people that have the good of the planet or its most exposed populations in mind. This is dangerous, as the frameworks created by those at the top directly affect us all. “If we’re talking about running our societies in the future with those kinds of infrastructures, they should be made much more transparent”, she said.
While transparency is a very important element to a more just and stable future, having a more varied group of people behind big decisions in technology
and policy is also imperative. This is why spaces like the Futures Forum are so important, Swanson says. They give people the opportunity to ask hard questions and discuss possible ways forward. For Swanson an important question she kept coming back to was “what impact does technology have on democracy, and can technology help us come through on that promise that democracy makes?”, with one of those promises being not only gender equality, but equality for other minority groups as well. In order to do this, Swanson reiterates that we need to “make sure other minority groups are included in these decision making processes”.
One of the last conference speakers, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, is an example of someone who is actively working to promote women through policy decisions. For example, since she took office in 2021, Baerbock has pledged to develop Germany’s Feminist Foreign Policy. This is made up of what she calls the three R’s: the promotion of rights, representation, and resources of women and marginalized groups.
In a speech she gave in September of 2022, Baerbock explained the importance of this policy. “Feminist Foreign Policy implements what we defined years ago as “human security”. It puts the spotlight on people, regardless of their background, gender, belief or who they love. If we focus particularly on women and marginalized groups, it makes our security policy more comprehensive. It makes it and us stronger.”
During the panel discussion between German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, which took place on the last day of the conference, Baerbock reinforced the importance of a Feminist Foreign Policy in response to a question posed by Swanson. She said that, while policy issues like those connected to women’s rights in Iran and Afghanistan need to be addressed, “at the end it always comes back to yourself and your own ministry, and I think that there we can do many things”. Additionally, she also ended by emphasizing the fact that there is always room for improvement.
It seems like that is one of the biggest takeaways from the U.S. – German Futures Forum: that change is coming, and minority representation (gender included) is an issue that is starting to really be addressed, but there is still so much more that can be, and should be done. Luckily, continuing to host conferences and discussions like this one is a critical part of the solution.