BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//CERN//INDICO//EN BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Organization of gender-balanced events: a case of practice\, Natio nal Meeting in Optics 2021 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20220322T150000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20220322T152000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260514T202325Z UID:indico-contribution-17353@indico.ific.uv.es DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Martina Delgado-Pinar (University of Valencia)\n**Or ganization of gender-balanced events: a case of practice\, National Meetin g in Optics 2021**\n\nSpeaker: Martina Delgado-Pinar\, Vice Chair of the W omen in Optics and Photonics Committee of SEDOPTICA\, in representation of the organizing committee of RNO2021 \nhttps://www.rno2021.es/#comite-orga nizador\n\nA clear example of the gender imbalance in STEM fields is the u nder-representation of women scientists in the most visible events (plenar y and invited talks) at conferences and workshops. The phenomenon of all-m ale panels is not unusual\, although it is true that\, in recent years\, t hey have been denounced by researchers themselves as a case of misconduct. \n\nTo overcome this barrier for women\, a collective effort must be made by the entire scientific community. In this respect\, the involvement and support of scientific societies and institutions is crucial in order to po sitively reinforce measures against gender bias in the organization of eve nts. The example that will be presented in this contribution is the organi zation of the National Meeting in Optics 2021 (www.rno2021.es)\, which was carried out by the Women in Optics and Photonics Committee (MOF\, for its acronym in Spanish) of the National Optical Society in Spain\, SEDOPTICA (www.sedoptica.es).\n\nSEDOPTICA approved in 2020 an internal code of cond uct for its committees with a series of recommendations for the organizati on of gender-balanced events. This code of conduct was drafted and promote d by SEDOPTICA-MOF\, and included aspects such as the ratio of men/women i n invited and non-invited talks\, scientific committees and the need to av oid the usual allocation of administrative roles to women while men hold t he more visible and science-related positions. This code can be read in [1 ].\n\nIn 2021\, the National Meeting in Optics (RNO) 2021 was organised by SEDOPTICA-MOF. It is a triennial congress organized by the SEDOPTICA\, wh ich has been held for more than 30 years. Each RNO brings together an aver age of 200 professionals from the different topics of Optics and Photonics in Spain and is where the latest scientific and technological advances in this field are presented. The 2021 organizing committee placed special em phasis on creating an equal and attractive congress for females and younge r researchers.\n\nTo this end\, the organizing committee wanted to highlig ht the role of women in Optics and Photonics\, with a dedicated topic at t he meeting\, and a round table to discuss gender issues in scientific care ers\, with the participation of four leading women in research and industr y. The plenary speakers were two world-leading researchers: Professor Jann ick Rolland (University of Rochester) in visual science and imaging\, and Professor Jelena Vucovick (Stanford University) in quantum and nonlinear o ptics. It is worth noting that these two women were delighted to participa te in this national meeting\, even when their schedules were difficult to fit into the meeting's timetable\, and we are sure that the nature of the event was a reason for them to collaborate with us. Their talks were recor ded and can be viewed at [2].\n\nIn addition\, special care was taken to e nsure a balanced ratio of male and female speakers at every session. Remar kably\, it is worth noting that even in areas such as Optoelectronics\, a committee that has a proportion of women below 20%\, the proportion of fem ale speakers was approximately 50%. Another example of positive action is that the participants in the competition for the best contribution by youn g researchers\, RNO2021 award\, showed an approximately 50% ratio between men and women. Even when there were no explicit criteria for including gen der aspects in the evaluation of the contribution\, there were three women among the five finalists in the context. These last three data indicate t hat the scientific level of female researchers is as good as that of their male counterparts. Hence\, the usual argument relating the lack of women in representative positions in science to scientific reasons does not app ly when women have the right conditions for their participation.\n\nAs the code of conduct approved by SEDOPTICA states\, the imbalance between men and women in STEM fields is no reason to disregard the possibility of equa l and diverse events maintaining a high scientific level. RNO2021 is an ex ample of this. The crucial point is to get out of the usual comfort zone f or the selection of speakers and\, in the case of not directly knowing wom en in certain fields\, just get out of your personal circle and ask other researchers for suggestions. There are more and more associations and init iatives that can help with this\, so: take action!\n\n*References.*\n[1]ht tps://areamujersedoptica.wordpress.com/2020/07/10/documento-de-recomendaci ones-a-los-comites-de-sedoptica-para-evitar-el-sesgo-de-genero/ \, last v isit 15/01/2022\n[2] Prof. Jannick Rolland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =MSzqeqh2DS4\nProf. Jelena Vucovick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzhiOk pmGlc \nLast visit 15/01/2022\n\nhttps://indico.ific.uv.es/event/6372/cont ributions/17353/ LOCATION:Salón de Actos del IATA URL:https://indico.ific.uv.es/event/6372/contributions/17353/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR