The figures are down from the heady days of 2004, when the numbers took us over 30% Thanks to Evelyn Brister at Knowledge and Experience for posting the figures and starting off a really interesting discussion.
In the discussion, Sharon Crasnow remarks that the figure for 2004 generated hope because it seems to make a turning point in other fields. The figure of 30-35% shows up in a number of discussions of equality, since it takes that sort of percentage before the ‘outsiders’ stop looking like anomalies. One of the important things in getting a woman selected for a position, for example, is to try to get several women on the slate.
This is something that people planning conferences could keep in mind.