Posted on: 8th March 2023, by Laura Moore
International Women’s Day 2023
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a day for celebrating women’s equality in all spheres, not just the workplace and as well as for celebration. It is also time to reflect on the battles won and the sacrifices made to get there. The day has been observed in various forms since the early 1900’s – a time in history that saw huge industrialisation and growth. Whilst also being a time of turbulence and growth of radical groups. With news stories from the UK and around the world continuing to shock, perhaps we are not so far from the turbulence and radical agitation of those days. But thank goodness we are an enormous distance from when the most very basic of rights for women to work and to vote were being hard fought for.
In reflection
Reflecting on the changes in society and workplace even from the 25 or so years that I have been in the workforce, huge inroads into equality have been made. However, there is still much more levelling up to be done in all areas. Encouraging even more women into our industry in the first place, supporting those who are already there to level the playing field with their male counterparts. Simply even that management have it cemented into their very core that women in the workforce *are* counterparts to the male employees and not slightly, gently, benevolently discriminated against. One thing that deeply worries me, though, as the parent of young girls who are showing fledgling interest in STEM topics, is the great damage that the issue of this benevolent or ambivalent bias has. This is negatively impacting our future workforce at the very grassroots. The message put across by a school that always phones the mum first if a head is bumped or a lunchbox or PE kit has been forgotten. The well-meaning relatives who still refer to something as a ‘boys colour’ or ‘girls toy’. The commonplace phrases like ‘grow some balls’, ‘man-up’, ‘wears the trousers’…. Subtle but troubling the cause for sure and we all have a responsibility to make sure in all our actions and interactions, we are relegating these subtle biases to the same dustbin that we know overt sexism belongs in.
Here at Magrathea
We are incredibly fortunate that Magrathea as a workplace embodies no outdated insidious forms of sexism. There is a proportionately high number of females working in the business, across the departments including in senior and director positions. The factor that underpins this is a core belief that regardless of gender or any other protected characteristic, each person here is valued for themselves. The administrative tasks don’t automatically fall to female members of staff. The tech doesn’t automatically fall to male members of staff. From the building of our network to the commercial negotiations and everything in between – all fall to whoever is best and available with no male-female pidgeonholing of roles. We are hugely lucky. But it’s not luck is it, it’s happened through the right engineering. And of course, engineering isn’t just a man’s job! Women on the springboard of the 2020s are far closer to true equality with their male counterparts than in the 1900s, which means we have a responsibility to support each other, to empower, to inspire and most importantly to have each other’s backs regardless of gender. CCUK’s Women in Telecoms group is about exactly this, and if you haven’t already joined I would urge you to get involved.