International Women’s Day 2016 – Pledging Parity

As the world gets ready to celebrate International Women’s Day, there is an ominous warning that progress towards gender parity has slowed.

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According to a report produced by the World Economic Forum at Davos earlier this year, gender parity is now unlikely to be achieved until 2133. This represents even slower progress for parity than had been predicted just 12 months previously, with 2095 the estimated timescale.

Pledge for Parity

It is against this backdrop that the official theme for International Women’s Day this year is ‘Pledge for Parity‘. The concept behind the theme is that every individual has the ability to make a change, whether it is in highlighting imbalances, helping girls and women achieve ambitions, or create more balanced cultures.

Since launching the campaign a little over 2 weeks ago, over 14,000 people have made an individual pledge. However, this is by no means enough. For the target of 2030 to be achieved, both the International Women’s Day organisation, and the UN, are looking for more people to get involved. You can make your pledge here.

Gender Bias in the Workplace

Procurious has written in the past about the major imbalances between the sexes in the workplace. Although more women than men enrolling at university in 97 countries, in just 68 of these countries do women make up the majority of the skilled workforce. Only in 4 do they represent the majority of leaders.

There is an on-going challenge to organisations to get more women involved in traditionally male-led professions, such as engineering. Career stereotypes, discussed heavily during International Women’s Day 2015, persist, made very clear by last year’s #ilooklikeanengineer campaign on social media.

And the situation is worse when it comes to the wage gap too. According to the WEF report, women now earn on average what men were earning 10 years ago, with men still earning twice as much as women. In country leadership, 50 per cent of countries have a female leader, but only 19 per cent of parliamentarians are female.

Onus on Organisations

In the UK, the Institute of Directors’ (IoD) Lady Barbara Judge, the first female chairman of the Institute in its 110-year history, has called on organisations to make changes. Specifically, to support efforts to increase the number of women in executive leadership positions.

Her recommendations include shaking up recruitment practices, and introducing gender-blind applications; creation of part-time and job-sharing executive roles; and introducing mentors and role models to champion women in senior roles.

She also said, “The remarkable success in increasing the number of women on boards in the UK over the past six years shows how enthusiastically businesses have embraced their role as champions of female progression. Now, we must channel this progress into tackling the next item on the agenda – getting more women into senior, executive, decision-making roles. The onus must be on employers to do everything they can to harness their female talent. After all, it is a business’s loss if it fails to make the most of half their workforce.”

However, it is not about introducing quotas, as has been suggested by some. Gender-balanced leadership expert, Dr. Karen Morley, has spoken extensively on this subject, giving recommendations to businesses to achieve their “critical mass“, but also why affirmative action is not the solution.

Make a Difference

Beyond making a pledge, there are a number of ways you can get involved with International Women’s Day celebrations.

• Events – Throughout the week there are events around the UK, and around the world, focusing on the celebrations. Find out if there is an event near you, and get along to it.

• Raise Your Voice – If you are a witness to gender imbalance, tell someone about it. Whether it’s discrimination in the workplace, or impingement of rights, only by speaking up and shining a light on this can a difference be made.

• Social Media – Can’t make it to an event? Make sure to follow all the progress on the 8th on social media. Follow International Women’s Day on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Share your thoughts by using the hashtag #IWD2016.

And if you need any more persuasion to get involved, look no further than Procurious’ own Tania Seary. Tania is major advocate for equality and has frequently highlighted the females who have influenced her career. You can read her thoughts here and here.