Between November 6 and November 8, over 600 attendees including researchers, STEM professionals, and industry leaders gathered in Montréal, Québec to take part in the Gender Summit 11 North America (#GS11NA). The theme of the summit was “Embracing pluralism and thriving through diversity: Shaping science and innovation.” The stimulating dialogue held across the three days of the summit aptly reflected this theme.

Among frequent topics of conversation were the underrepresentation of women (particularly in science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM, fields, but also in other domains such as academia and corporate leadership), implications of women’s underrepresentation for science and innovation, and organizational recruitment efforts aimed toward achieving gender parity. Several plenary sessions at the summit highlighted “the business case” for gender diversity. In a panel led by Daniéle Henkel (President and Founder of Daniéle Henkel Inc.) on Monday afternoon, speakers in top industry positions considered ways in which companies might directly benefit from increasing their gender diversity and representation of women. Other sessions put forth a stronger “innovation and scientific progress case” for gender diversity. A fascinating panel moderated by WWEST Chair Dr. Lesley Shannon explored how failing to consider gender diversity might directly impact the results of scientific studies in medicine, public planning, and computer science.

Although the summit’s audience was primarily comprised of non-self-identified males, there were a considerable number of male attendees and panelists. The subject of male allyship was a topic that emerged in nearly every panel. During a parallel session on gender stereotypes hosted by the 1997-2006 NSERC/Alcan Chair for Women in Science and Engineering in Quebec Dr. Claire Deschênes, ManTalks founder Connor Beaton discussed the importance of inviting men into conversations around gender equity and inclusion. His comments were echoed by Former President of Association of Registered Nurses of British Columbia Zachary Matieschyn, who acknowledged the work that must be done to remove the shame and guilt men often feel toward issues of gender inequity. Perhaps the strongest remarks in support of male allyship came from President and CEO of VIA Rail Canada, Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, who demanded that male executives in top positions acknowledge “the new reality” of gender diversity, and highlighted the hard-hitting efforts VIA Rail’s corporate leadership has implemented in spearheading the movement toward gender equity.

Despite all three days of the summit being astoundingly packed with a diversity of perspectives and information, informal conversations among attendees of the conference highlighted outstanding questions and concerns. Since many of the summit’s sessions approached gender inequity through an institutional lens, ways in which attendees might counteract gender inequity at the interpersonal or individual level were less emphasized. Several attendees noted wanting to learn more about what they might do as individuals to advocate for gender equity in their daily lives, in addition to in their workplace. There also seemed to be a collectively unfed appetite for in-depth narratives and mutual sharing of experiences, namely among the younger generation of attendees. Fortunately, these unaddressed points only speak to a desire to learn more, and highlight promising topics of discussion for future gender summits and similar events.