Another International Women’s Day, another opportunity for LinkedIn to be flooded with pictures of female employees in any given company accompanied by various hashtags. Sometimes even eating cake! Has IWD become performative? A box-ticking exercise? A ‘must post’ date in companies’ social media calendars? At Epoch, we believe it has. We also believe that it shouldn’t have. So today, instead of posting a picture of all the incredibly smart women at Epoch, we chose to post a picture that reminds us of what many exceptional women needed to do to get where they are today. Achieving equal rights for women is still extremely relevant. In the UK, we look at gender ratios on company boards, leadership position splits, flexible policies, and the pay gap. These are, of course, important issues to resolve, biases to break, and blocks to remove from the road. Yet, this is 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 Women’s Day. Girls and women in many countries around the world are treated unfairly just because they were born female. Girls who cannot attend school, who cannot get an education, who cannot express an opinion, whose future is chosen for them. Women who cannot work outside of the home, who cannot earn an income. Who cannot be seen. International Women’s Day is still extremely relevant, and it is not accurately represented by the annual office female picture. Not even if it includes cake! Sustainable development and gender equality can only go together. Here's to a sustainable future, where women all around the world, are seen, heard, and treated equally.
Great post!
Drug Discovery Scientist | Neuroscience Enthusiast | High-Achieving ex-NCAA Division I Athlete | Passionate Problem-Solver
4moLove this! I agree that IWD is sometimes an opportunity for a performative post. It's refreshing to see the focus being on the meaning of the day itself and that there is an emphasis at Epoch on equality (what what equality should look like!) Great post.