“Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women’s equality. Collectively we can all #InspireInclusion.”
As the strapline for this year’s International Women’s Day, this certainly paints an idyllic picture that, on the face of it, does not appear to be outside the realms of possibility. And, arguably, it shouldn’t be. Yet, I doubt few would disagree that there is still much to be done before this vision of gender equality becomes a reality.
This is particularly true when it comes to the workplace, where gender pay and pensions gaps are well documented. According to beauty brand Avon’s 2024 Global progress for women report, which surveyed 7,000 women in seven countries including the UK, in the UK alone there has been an increase in the proportion who agree there are inequalities to pay gaps or earned income from 47% in 2023 to 65% this year.
In addition, the percentage of women who said they feel prejudice from employers about what roles are suitable for them has risen to 31% from 27% year on year.
While some industries continue to be male dominated, and are likely to be so for some time to come, in the run up to International Women’s Day we have received a number of press releases detailing what employers in some of these industries are doing to work towards increasing the number of female employees within their workforce, particularly at senior levels. While this certainly sounds promising, the cynic in me can’t help but think that for every organisation taking such steps towards greater equality, there are many more that are sitting back, staying quiet and refraining from proactively doing so.
In recent years, changes to the working environment and working practices have helped to open opportunities up to women. According to IWG’s 2024 report Advancing equality: women in the hybrid workplace, two-thirds of respondents said hybrid working has opened up opportunities at work that they would not have had otherwise, while more than half (53%) said the flexibility of hybrid working had enabled them to pursue promotions or apply for more senior roles.
Meanwhile, the measures announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in the last few Budgets aimed at helping more parents, likely primarily women, return to work or increase their working hours, may also go some way to increasing the opportunities available to this group. This also presents an opportunity for employers to review how inclusive their workplace currently is and take steps to improve this in order to harness the vast pool of potential talent among female employees.
I saw one quote this week, which summed this up particularly well from Melissa Blissett, pay gap analytics lead at Barnett Waddingham. She said: “It is the perfect moment to conduct a thorough review of the workplace; is the working structure, benefits package, remuneration, and work designed to attract and retain female talent? Are women able to hold roles with greater responsibility, and, in turn, higher pay? There is a pool of productivity sat waiting to be tapped if more women could fully engage at work; it is the responsibility of employers to harness that, and, in turn, reduce their gender pay gap, improve team performance, and ultimately boost their bottom line.”
Whatever form change takes, it is clear it needs to happen. As the mother of a five-year-old girl, I would like to think employees of all genders will be on a more equal footing by the time she enters the workforce. Sadly, I don’t think this will be the case. While progress has undoubtedly been made since the first International Women’s Day in 1911, there is still a long way to go before gender equality becomes the norm.
Debbie Lovewell-Tuck
Editor
Tweet: @DebbieLovewell