INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

'The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist, nor to any one organization, but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights." -- Gloria Steinem

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Today we celebrate International Women's Day (IWD) - a day to raise awareness, bring new women into the fold and inspire the next generation of female leaders. It is a call to action to accelerate gender parity and to raise awareness about women's equality.

It's an annual event rooted in history, first celebrated in the early 1900s after a woman called Clara Zetkin suggested the idea at a conference of working women.
This year's theme is 'Choose to Challenge' and according to the IWD, a challenging world is an alert world that results in a change. We all know that Covid-19 has hit women hardest. The next generation faces an unknown future, with paths interrupted and futures dented.

Today is a global call for equality, tackling injustice and to make girls and women believe in their own agency and power.

Here are three ways you can #ChooseToChallenge

1 - Challenge the structures that hold women back in the workplace by Closing The #EntitlementGap

One of the most potent and original ideas from our research into working women was that of the 'unentitled mindset'. A persistent problem that women face in their careers, this toxic internalised bias leads to a lack of confidence at work, especially in negotiating pay increases

Once you know about the 'unentitled mindset', you will see it everywhere – from 'manspreading' on the train, to women's unequal domestic load, and in the huge amount of unpaid female work globally.

Join us on social to challenge these structures and Close The #EntitlementGap

2 - Challenge the myths and assumptions around what holds women back

The Female Lead's Women at Work Research revealed that there are myths and outdated assumptions about who women are and what they want, but also about the kinds of bias they are likely to face in the workplace.

The Women at Work insight suggests that energy and focus be directed away from these 'outdated presumptions' to ensure genuine progress is achieved. Read our recent researchand lets bust the myths!


3 - Challenge more women to back themselves more often

We need to proactively go out of our way to lift other women up – to challenge how they see themselves, how they speak about themselves, and what they see as possible for themselves. When women rise, we all rise.

In these COVID-19 recovery years, never has this been more necessary and perhaps never before has our workplace and world been so disrupted, giving us a chance to build back better.
How will you choose to challenge?

The Female Lead