Thank you to everyone that joined us for International Women’s Day at Hartpury University, with the International Indoor and Outdoor Equine Arena as our impressive backdrop! heart

An inspiring afternoon of stories and insights from our speakers:

Mo Hunt – Hartpury & Gloucester Rugby

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-hunt-8a6922a3/

Rosie Runciman – Sound Doctor

rosie@thesounddoctor.org

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosie-runciman-9a228449/

https://www.thesounddoctor.org/about

Emily Hutchinson

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hutchinsonemily/

emily@ejhconsulting.co.uk

https://applypsychology.co.uk/author/emily-hutchinson/

Fran Solo

https://www.linkedin.com/in/frontendfran/

Photo’s from the event: https://www.circle2success.com/photo-gallery/

Some statistics on why it’s important to have International Women’s Day and shine the light on some of the issues and challenges we as a society are still facing. It’s important to remember that IWD is not a day for women but a day for everyone to get involved, learn, share and think about our own roles and what we can do differently to make a more equitable and inclusive world..

With well over a century of history and change, the first International Women’s Day (IWD) was held in March 1911. IWD isn’t country, group or organisation specific, it’s a day of collective global activism and celebration that belongs to all those committed to forging women’s equality together.

We say this each year that whilst we have definitely made great strides there is some way to go for global equality. For example in the world of work:

Globally, over 2.7 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. Of 190 economies assessed in 2023, more than one-third (69 economies) have laws constraining women’s decision to work, and 43 economies have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace.
Women remain less likely to participate in the labour market than men around the world. Globally, the gender gap in labour force participation has hovered at 30 per cent since 1990, with men’s participation at around 80 per cent and women’s at 50 per cent. Labour force participation rates for women aged 25-54 in 2022 was 61.4 per cent compared to 90.6 per cent for men. Women in the same age group with at least one child under six experience a “motherhood penalty” as the gap widens from 29.2 per cent to 42.6 per cent, with female participation at 53.1 per cent and male participation at 95.7 per cent.
Women are over-represented in informal and vulnerable employment. Nearly 60 per cent of women’s employment globally is in the informal economy, and in low-income countries, it is more than 90 per cent, according to the latest research from 2018
Women are paid less than men. The gender wage gap is estimated to be 20 per cent. This means that women earn 80 per cent of what men earn, though these figures understate the real extent of gender pay gaps, particularly in developing countries where informal self-employment is prevalent]. Women also face the motherhood wage penalty, which increases as the number of children a woman has increases.
Violence and harassment in the world of work affect women regardless of age, location, income, or social status. The economic costs to the global economy of discriminatory social institutions and violence against women is estimated to be approximately USD 6 trillion annually.

Mo (Natasha) Hunt Co-Captain of Hartpury and Gloucester Rugby and England World Cup Champion shared with us her incredible career journey so far and how it is important to know your worth and surround yourself with good people. Her clear sporting talent, drive, resilience, determination, caring nature and her support network have helped her get to where she is today and picked her up during the tough times. She is always striving to rise to the next challenge and went on that same evening to win another incredible rugby game!

Rosie & Emily bedunked four myths for us and talked about gender diversity and STEMM leadership:

Having a diverse workforce is just about getting the right numbers
Focusing on fixing the women not the system is the right way to progress
All women are the same – intersectionality
That we’re making good progress

There are a few tickets left for Emily’s Unconference – Making Difference Work’. on April 25th at the Cheltenham Chase Hotel – ‘

This is the link to book: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/creating-positive-change-together-unconference-2024-tickets-662341891427

Watch this video from Sound Doctors on Improving Mental Health:

Fran Solo shared a very honest story of her own education, career and life journey and the personal hurdles she has already had to overcome to become the successful young woman in Tech.

It was good to hear more about the work of The Nelson Trust and thank you to everyone for your very generous contributions to their support for women in crisis.

It was so good to have the chance to listen to so many thought provoking and inspiring speakers and have the opportunity to catch-up with so many people, sparking some really important conversations.