What percentage of Davos attendees are women?

Female attendance at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting has drifted between roughly 15% and 28% over the last two decades — nowhere near parity.

What should women wear to Davos?

Waterproof boots with actual tread, not heels — Davos is solid ice at sub-zero temperatures. Layer for repeated security checks (thermal base, knit, blazer), and dress to 'refined European business casual.'

Where do women network during Davos week?

The Female Quotient's Equality Lounge on the Promenade, and the Women Political Leaders breakfast, both in Davos itself. The World Woman Davos Agenda runs its own parallel summit about an hour away in St. Moritz — not in Davos, despite the name.

The numbers, where to actually find each other, and what to wear

Women at Davos

Davos skews male. That's not a secret, and one page won't fix it — but the practical questions are answerable: how skewed, actually; where the women who do come find each other; and what to actually pack. Here's a straight answer to all three.

A panel discussion on stage at The Female Quotient's Equality Lounge® at Davos

The numbers

WEF has been meeting since 1971. Women have been allowed to not queue for the bathroom for roughly none of those years. Female attendance has drifted between 15% and 28% for two decades — which, doing the maths, means for every woman debating geopolitics on a panel, there are three to five men debating who gets the good hotel room.

Where women gather

If the Congress Centre is the boys' treehouse, Davos does have counter-programming. The Female Quotient's Equality Lounge sets up on the Promenade for the week — panels, actual CEOs (the Dimon kind), and a noticeably shorter bathroom line. The Women Political Leaders crowd does its plotting over breakfast, because apparently reshaping the world requires croissants first. And about an hour down the valley, in St. Moritz, the World Woman Davos Agenda runs its own parallel summit — same week, better views, fewer manspreading panels.

See the full week on our side events calendar.

What to wear

Davos does not care about your heels. Davos is solid ice, minus twelve, on a hill engineered to humble anyone in nice shoes. Boots — waterproof, low, actual tread. The kind your ski instructor approves of and your stylist doesn't. You'll be removing your coat eleven times a day for security, so layer like you're smuggling a sweater collection: thermal base, knit, blazer, done. The dress code is officially "refined European business casual," which translates to: look like you run something, not like you're attending something.

Bringing a delegation that isn't 100% blazers and signet rings?

We plan around that too.

See you at the Magic Mountain.