Summary

Effective Altruism London (EAL) events usually attract significantly more men than women. In summer 2018, I hosted two focus groups of regular attendees at EAL events: one with four men, and one with three women (including myself). Both men and women benefited from EA ideas, learning, career benefits, socializing, and shared values. Both men and women faced time and social costs, as well as a feeling of being ill-informed or not smart enough. Women particularly emphasised time costs. The women interviewed said that gender-specific costs are not a major factor in their attendance, although they had occasionally experienced some level of sexual harassment and did find anti-feminist views at EAL events uncomfortable. In the conclusion, I suggest some next steps in diversity research for Effective Altruism, including interviewing women who have stopped attending EA events.

Introduction

Effective Altruism London (EAL) events usually attract significantly more men than women. In particular, 60-70% of attendees at EAL socials 2016-2018 were men. Other events, such as lectures, projects, and career coaching, are more evenly balanced.

Men are also more likely to return to EAL events. 33 men have been to seven or more EAL events between 2016 and 2018; only eight women can say the same. Although similar numbers of men and women initially attend EAL events, women are much less likely to return.

Over the past two years, how many attendees have been to exactly…?

	% female	male	female
1 event	50.40%	473	481
2-3 events	42.13%	114	83
4-6 events	33.33%	50	25
7-19 events	19.51%	33	8
20+ events	26.67%	11	4

This phenomenon has been reported in other EA communities, such as the Bay area, and has been identified as a potential problem in the EA movement. Three years ago, Alex Gordon-Brown argued that it is important to have visible diversity in areas like gender and race, because it’s a quick way for people to establish a bond. Additionally, he suggested that we should expect women to be uncomfortable if they’re significantly outnumbered by men. Several authors, including Ben Kuhn, Julia Wise, Kelsey Piper, and Michelle Hutchinson, have suggested ways to make EA more welcoming.

Over the past several months, I’ve been investigating why EAL events attract more men than women. In summer 2018, I posted an article with some descriptive statistics provided by Davi

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