International Women’s Day is a globally recognised event that celebrates all of women’s achievements alongside fighting for gender equality. It all began in the early 1900’s when 15,000 women marched through New York demanding equal rights for women such as voting, better pay and shorter working hours.
It is clear that the aim of International Women’s Day- to achieve full gender equality around the world- has clearly not been recognised. Gender pay gaps are still an issue across the world and the presence of women in business or politics is still not equal. Figures show there is still more violence towards women than men and education and health levels are still lower than men’s.
IT and Technology is one of the main sectors in which females are the minority. There are just 17% of women in tech and this hasn’t increased over the last few years. The first woman to encourage females to work in tech was Dame Stephanie Shirley who is largely unknown. Research from QA.com found that 50% of women in tech said they were actively discouraged from starting in tech by their parents, schools, colleagues and other family members.
Many people ask and the answer is yes, there is an International Men’s Day and this takes place on 19th November. This day focuses on men’s and boy’s health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality and emphasising male role models.
There is a different theme each year for IWD. This year the theme is #BeBoldForChange which aims to encourage people to step up and take action to help conquer gender equality. You can get involved by making a pledge for parity on the IWD website.