For our first two years, our membership was heavily male and we told ourselves this reflected who was interested in making. It did not. It reflected what we had built.
**What we found when we looked**
Induction times clustered in evenings, which is exactly when women with family responsibilities could not attend. Our photography showed men using machines and women watching. Every one of our machine inductors was male. None of this was deliberate; all of it was legible to anyone deciding whether the space was for them.
**What we changed**
Daytime and weekend induction slots. Women members trained and paid to run inductions. Photography that showed who we wanted to be rather than who happened to turn up first. A women-led summit, now annual.
None of it was expensive. Most of it was scheduling.
**Where it has got to**
Better, not solved. The textile and electronics benches reached rough parity quickly. The metal shop and CNC have moved far more slowly, and we do not think we have properly understood why yet.
**The point**
A space is not open because you have not put up a sign saying keep out. It is open when the people you want are already there, doing the thing, visibly.