PayPal Responded To Claims About Its All-Male Gender Equality Panel

PayPal clearly has its heart in the right place. The payment company gained national attention recently when it revoked plans to build an operations center in North Carolina, in protest against the state's anti-LGBTQ legislation. But now PayPal has come under scrutiny for scheduling a gender equality panel...that consists entirely of men. A sign for an upcoming PayPal conference made its way around the internet this week, and many people aren't happy with it. The panel seemed good in theory — it's about promoting gender equality in the workplace, and the tech industry is notoriously male-dominated. What appeared less good was the fact that the only participants featured on the ad are male.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Nolwenn Godard, president of PayPal's Unity program, explained that the panel is intended for male allies, but the full title, "Gender Equality and Inclusion in the Workplace: A Conversation with our Male Allies," didn't make it onto the sign that's being shared online. Still, a discussion that features male allies doesn't seem like the best way to address gender inequality in the tech world — and after the backlash, PayPal acknowledged that fact. Refinery29 reached out to PayPal for comment on the panel, and the company directed us to a blog post about its Unity Speaker Series. The post explains that after receiving "feedback" about the panel, PayPal has asked Godard to moderate the discussion. It will still feature male allies, but it will be moderated by a woman, and according to the blog post, "the women in our community will also be full participants in the discussion." Now that's a panel we can all support.