Women in Events: Why Gender Matters Now More Than Ever

Written by Kieran Marklew, Managing Director MPL

I recently attended a popular industry trade show where there were over 200 attendees, and I was struck by a glaring issue: only two women were present.

I had the opportunity to speak with one of them, a young female professional, who was actively looking for a job in the industry. As we chatted, I mentioned how great it was for her to be at such an event to explore opportunities, but also acknowledged how overwhelming it must be to be surrounded mostly by men. Her response? She shared how she felt that the industry was still heavily misogynistic. I must admit, I felt embarrassed.

I started questioning if I was the only one who was concerned about this imbalance. But it’s clear — this is an issue that needs to be addressed, and it’s time we take steps to change it.

In many industries, women are often seen in office-based roles, but female technicians are still rare. The question is: how can we level the playing field and improve our perception in the events environments we create?

At my company, we’ve recently started offering work experience to students at BOA – Stage and Screen Academy, who are local to us in our area. The best student we had was a young woman — she was hardworking, quick to learn, and even took the initiative to teach her peers things we had trained her on. Based on her dedication, enthusiasm, and performance, we plan on offering her more opportunities to work with us.

This experience made me realise that the events industry needs to make room for talent to enter. It’s about hard work, willingness to learn, and passion for the craft. But we need more women like her in the field — and we need to create spaces where women feel not just welcome but empowered to succeed.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on how we can address this issue in our industry. How can we better support and encourage women to enter and thrive in roles that are often male dominated? Let’s work together to make a meaningful change and create more inclusive events and environments.