THE MCA CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2021

Published 8 March 2021 at 12:27pm

Staff and stakeholders at the Sheffield City Region Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) have joined forces to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day.

As part of the celebrations, the MCA’s female employees have been honouring their own achievements and sharing their story as part of the global campaign for gender parity. Watch the video result here.

Members of the MCA team have also taken part in the Northern Power Women celebrations, including an online virtual networking event and a social media campaign, which will see LEP board member Lucy Nickson featured later this week.

And it’s not just women who are celebrating today! The MCA’s Senior Economic Policy Manager Jon Guest has produced a guide on the importance of International Women’s Day and what everyone can do to support the campaign. Read Jon’s piece below:

I am a feminist. There we go: nice and early. Four words which mean a lot. Four words that to many people are negative. I know some of those people. They tie it to a misplaced view about what feminists are and what men and women can do. In reality, it means many things to different people but has one thing at its core; belief in full social, economic, and political equality for women.

It baffles me that people view this ambition as being arguable. It baffles me more when I see the world around me and a world in which my daughter will explore (eventually Covid-19!!). A world in which there are:

• • More people called David and Steve that lead FTSE 100 companies than women (and ethnic minorities). David and Steve are popular names (less so now) but this lack of diversity can’t be conducive to progress.
  • Huge wage inequalities in all countries and wages for Women in South Yorkshire are 18% lower than the national level.
  • Rapid increases in the amount of abuse levelled at women in politics, television or in sport. It’s embarrassing and cowardly. It reduces women’s enjoyment and rights to participate in these areas and often the social media that accompanies it.

Worryingly, Covid-19 has exacerbated some of the gender issues. McKinsey report that women’s jobs are 1.8 times more vulnerable to the Covid-19 crisis than men’s jobs. They also report that women make up 39% of global employment but account for 54 percent of overall job losses. This also led to a baffling statistic in America whereby women account for 100% of jobs lost in December.

The above may seem negative but it’s the reality. For me some of the statistics are symbolic of the far-reaching changes required and further work that is needed for gender equality. However, I’m also an optimist and women’s achievements over the past year show that change is possible. Barriers are being broken down and progress (in some areas) is being made by international and local role models:

• • Women like tech-entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe Herd who is  the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire at 31. In becoming a billionaire she’s had financial setbacks and sexual harassment lawsuits to contend with.
  • Upcoming football superstar, Doncaster Belles forward and top scorer, Nadia Khan, is another role model. Not well known outside of Doncaster – her performances on the pitch for me are symbolic of a shift in football and shows why women’s football is becoming more attractive to all.

For gender equality to be closer on the horizon we need International Women’s Day. We need to identify the challenges and celebrate achievements. We also need to “do something” and this is clearer to me in my actions when we see the challenges and those that have overcome challenges.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is ‘Choose to Challenge’ where organisers are calling for all supporters to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. Supporters are encouraged to share their solidarity on social media with the hashtags #ChooseToChallenge and #IWD2021.