International Women’s Day 2024 – Inspire Inclusivity

March 8th 2024 is International Women's Day, a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It is also a day to raise awareness of the ongoing challenges and barriers that women face in their quest for gender equality and empowerment.  

This year's theme is #InspireInclusivity, which encourages us to inspire gender inclusion in our everyday lives and to celebrate the achievements of women who have broken stereotypes and boundaries. 

To mark this occasion, we have asked some of our colleagues to share their thoughts on why gender inclusion is important for them and how they contribute to inspiring a more inclusive culture at work. Here are some of their thoughts and stories. 

 

Nicol Nee, Head of Service 

“For me, gender inclusivity is paramount to the success of any organisation, creating a fair environment with equal opportunities for everyone. It ensures diverse perspectives, leading to improved decision-making and a positive place to work where everyone feels valued.” 

 

Hoa Ngo, UK Managing Director 

“I think it’s important for everyone to inspire gender inclusion, not just women. The involvement of men is crucial for achieving gender inclusion. 

 Many organisations still miss the mark by focusing solely on women, reinforcing the perception that these are women's issues and overlooking systemic causes. With the active support of men, significant progress towards ending gender disparities is going to happen much faster.” 

 

Lee Hoare, Senior Business Partner 

“I personally think it’s important to inspire gender inclusion because gender shouldn’t even be an issue that needs to be discussed. The more that we raise gender inclusion now, hopefully the less future generations will have to! There shouldn’t have to be a conversation to be equal, we are all equal! 

Having been brought up in a family of very strong women, surrounded by strong female friends this issue baffles me. We shouldn’t be excluding, we should be openly inviting everyone into the workplace, or any setting. I think the world would be a much better place if we do.” 

 

Delasi Dawson-Coker, Business Partner 

“I think inspiring gender inclusion is vital due to personal experience. I once expressed interest in an advertised role with more responsibility at a previous workplace and was met with: “Really? Even with 3 kids? I wouldn’t have thought you’d be interested!” The female HR, without speaking to me had already made up her mind that as a mother of 3, I had no intention of progressing my career further.  

Interestingly, this was at a place where I had progressed through the ranks over the years; however, after having kids, it had been assumed that I’d no longer be looking for career progression.” 

 

Mary Nichol Impellam Director of Sales 

“I’m a firm believer in promoting gender inclusion, it allows us to have better conversations, by nurturing a variety of opinions regardless of gender helps us come up with our greatest ideas. Having everyone think in the same way doesn’t allow that. Having a mix of genders allow us to be open to new ways of thinking and working. I love working and hearing differing views and perspectives.” 

 

Luke Celino, Head of Service 

“As a single father of a 12-year-old daughter, I’ve always felt strongly about the importance to inspire gender inclusion, and this is also filtered down into my team at work too. 

Gender inclusion in the workplace is important. However, it’s also important because it promotes diversity and creates a more welcoming environment for employees. When all genders are valued and respected, they are all engaged, motivated and productive.  

Inclusive businesses around the globe are seen as more desirable places to work and are better able to meet the needs of a broader range of customers. It’s important to inspire gender inclusion and bring balance to the workplace because that’s what I want my daughter to experience in her future.” 

 

Hannah Fennelly, Business Partner 

“I had not really experienced any gender inclusion problems for a big chunk of my life, our parents pushed us girls to learn basic DIY, how to look after our cars... all the stereotypical ‘manly’ type roles. This soon changed as soon as I became a parent. 

Prior to having my son, I was always considered a valuable member of the team, I had 100% attendance and zero lateness in all the years I had worked at that previous company. After he was born, my son attended nursery and anyone who has a baby in nursery knows they constantly call you as they cannot have any unwell children mixing with other children, and at that age they pick up every germ.  

I was made to feel sick with guilt if I was called out of work, with comments and questions on if someone else could get him, and then I would feel guilty not being able to give my son all my attention while he was unwell because I was worried about work. It dawned on me that all the years I had never been off or even been late, all the extra hours and extra work I had contributed prior to having my son meant absolutely nothing.  

I left that role as I felt I was pushed out; I found a new role where they were thankfully very supportive, and I have never experienced this since. It’s important to inspire gender inclusion because I still hear stories like mine and feel we have a long way to go before we get it right.” 

 

Beth Capper, Senior Business Partner 

“I have a 5-year-old daughter and I work really hard daily to instil the importance of gender not being an issue or something that holds us back in life and the workplace.  

We recently bought and read together the book, “Little People, Big Dreams – Mare Curie” which is fabulous but clearly demonstrates inequality between genders from that time – Marie wasn’t able to attend the same school as her brother, because she was female, and had to move countries to Paris to study where it was acceptable for females to attend. She obviously later went on to win 2 Nobel peace prizes for the work to science and set up schools to encourage women into that field… the rest is literally history! 

It was really interesting to see my daughter being curious / flabbergasted, at age 5, as to why Marie couldn’t attend a school because she was female – and hopefully testament that as a society, we are moving to a better place where capability and ability is not determined by our gender.” 

 

If you’re looking to promote gender equality in your workplace, the International Women’s Day website has tools, resources, and support that can help you. Look to make improvements today, and plan for a more diverse 2025. 

https://www.internationalwomensday.com/