Where were the women of optics?

I read with interest the piece entitled ‘Debating the delivery of eye care’ a report describing a Question Time session at Optrafair published in Optician. The report described the session as featuring ‘leading lights in optics’.

I noticed that the panel consisted mainly of middle-aged and older men with the only exception being a young Asian male. Contrast this with a comment in an article by Bill Harvey and Nizar Hirji in the same edition ‘…while just over half the optometric performers in England are female…’.

Perhaps the organisers couldn’t find any women willing to take part in the Question Time session. If so, I know a great number of women in optics whose light is burning very brightly and who would be happy help make future panels more representative of optics today.