Last year the World Economic Forum dished out the glum news that it could take until 2133 for the world to close the global gender gap and progress to close it is slowing down year on year. Naturally this glacial pace of change is worrying not only for ourselves, already in the working world, but for future generations who may never see equality in their lifetime.
Every year International Women’s Day themes their campaign to focus on a specific women’s issue and what topic is more relevant today than taking a stand to ‘Pledge For Parity‘.
The pledge is meant to encourage everyone to commit to achieving a more accelerated rate of gender equality in all facets of life. This means a more balanced board room, flexible working for mothers and fathers in the workplace, helping young women achieve their dreams and reach for careers in male dominated industries, and a call for respect and elimination of subconscious bias towards a more patriarchal society.
Not only is the pledge for parity a fantastic social cause, encouraging equality in the workplace and allowing space for women to thrive have been proven to make an economic difference to businesses as well.
A lot of this year’s campaign has been focused on getting the big dogs of business and political leaders to finally pay attention to the gender gap and make official changes to their company charters, hiring and HR processes and investment into women in the workplace. Now, you may not be the director of a Fortune 500 company (yet), but there are always small things you can do to support the cause no matter what your position in society. No matter what your contribution to the fight for gender equality let’s not let this issue slide after International Women’s Day. So here are three easy ways to #PledgeForParity that you can consistently slip into your everyday life.
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SUPPORT FEMALE CREATORS, ARTISTS AND BUSINESS LEADERS
There are so many ways to do this one ranging from something as simple as buying from female artists, subscribing to a small female Youtubers, watching a movie directed by a woman, to bigger steps to funding female creators on sites like Patreon or donating to female-led projects on Kiva.org.
DONATE TO CHARITIES THAT FUND GIRL’S EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS
Education should be at the heart of any fight for equality and what better way to encourage parity is investing in the future. There are so many fantastic charities which support and fund educational services for women all around the world. Some of my favourites include – but are certainly not limited to Aid for Africa, The Malala Fund, Camfed, and WISE.
SHARE THE GOOD NEWS
Women’s stories are very rarely heard as it is and when we do hear about gender equality it’s often in the context of our loses rather than the wins. Many of us are blessed with incredible privilege, a platform and a voice that is guaranteed to be heard. Why not use that to your advantage as an opportunity to spread some love for women’s fighting the good fight? It doesn’t even have to be a big gesture, even re-tweeting stories or sharing news with co-workers are small steps to recognising the inspiring work done all over the world.
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Let me know in the comments how you’ll #PledgeForParity today.
And if you have a minute, take the pledge yourself!
Ria