{"id":32072,"date":"2021-03-08T12:28:51","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T12:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/?p=32072"},"modified":"2021-03-08T12:29:46","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T12:29:46","slug":"iwd2021-choosetochallenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/iwd2021-choosetochallenge\/","title":{"rendered":"IWD2021 #ChooseToChallenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

International Woman\u2019s Day 2021 theme: Choose to Challenge.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot be who you cannot see\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0\u201c speak out for others who may not have a voice\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n

As senior champion of the Women\u2019s Network at the\u00a0Government Digital Servic<\/span>e<\/a>\u00a0I am exceptionally proud of all work done so far by individuals and the collective to address gender equality: to enable all to be the best they can be. I also know there is more to do across the inclusion and equality agenda. In a traditionally technical employment field and never more so than now for any sector-supporting diversity in skills to enable the most creative, most innovative, most normalised multi-disciplinary teams who are most like our users is critical.<\/p>\n

I also #ChooseToChallenge. I am authentic. I am myself. I have not changed who I am in different roles or at different levels of organisations. I am lucky to be who I am and be able to speak, share and be open about my views. I am aware others are not so. I #ChooseToChallenge.<\/p>\n

Today: pay gap and pensions. Based on evidence, on data, this is why there continues to be an IWD, a theme this year of#ChooseToChallenge. Check out all your favourite companies in the UK in the Gender Pay Gap annual reporting. Really interesting data.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why is there a Gender Pay Gap?<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. There are more men in senior roles than woman<\/li>\n
  2. Caring responsibilities and part-time roles are shared unequally<\/li>\n
  3. Women choose to work in low-paid roles and sectors<\/li>\n
  4. Women are paid less than men for the same role<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    So what can we do?<\/h4>\n

    Overall, Design and support roles that work for everyone. Create quality flexible jobs that allow women\u00a0and men<\/em>\u00a0to balance ambition with caring responsibilities.<\/p>\n

    For the last one though, the law has been clear that men and women should be paid equally since\u00a0the Equal Pay Act of 1970<\/strong><\/a>. However, as can be seen from the gender pay gap data above, and research by many, women are less likely to negotiate a higher salary on entry to a role, less likely to ask for a raise and possibly most disappointingly, if they do ask for a raise\u2026 less likely to get it.. due (research based-much out there) to themes in reasons 1\u20133 above. Research found anxiety about appearing \u201crude\u201d or \u201cungrateful\u201d was stopping women from requesting more money \u2014 with around a quarter of women saying they were fearful that contesting pay could endanger benefits like maternity leave or flexible working.<\/p>\n

    There is a growing\u00a0Show the Pay movement<\/a>\u00a0to challenge employers who don\u2019t show salaries on job adverts to normalise this practice and remove one of the barriers to this gender pay gap.<\/p>\n

    All this adds up to pension gaps. \u201cOn average, women in their twenties today are on course to retire with \u00a3100,000* less in their pension pot than a man the same age. To make up the difference they\u2019d have to start work much younger. Of course we don\u2019t think girls should literally have to start work from a young age to close the pension gap so let\u2019s take a look at what can actually be done.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>* Scottish Widows Women & Retirement Report 2020<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

    This is why I support and cheer male role models, mentors and male agents of change, they have been my personal champions and supporters to be my very best, with the skills I have, and to have a voice. Of my peers who role model great practices, of companies who may not be perfect but are openly working to correct this imbalance.<\/p>\n

    This is why I #ChooseToChallenge. Will you?<\/p>\n

    \n

    Originally posted here<\/a><\/p>\n

    More thought leadership <\/i><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    International Woman\u2019s Day 2021 theme: Choose to Challenge. \u201cYou cannot be who you cannot see\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0\u201c speak out for others who may not have a voice\u201d As senior champion of the Women\u2019s Network at the\u00a0Government Digital Service\u00a0I am exceptionally proud of all work done so far […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":32073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-32072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-diversity","topic-government","topic-transformation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIWD2021 #ChooseToChallenge | Digital Leaders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/iwd2021-choosetochallenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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