How we are #breakingthebias this International Women’s Day
News
- Employment and Skills,
- International
08 March 2022
Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality. Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.
Celebrate women's achievement. Raise awareness against bias. Take action for equality.
These are the opening words of the official International Women’s Day (IWD) website, calling upon everyone to help make a difference in this world.
As with any dedicated focus, this is not about detraction from any other groups, but to specifically highlight and celebrate the achievement of women. And there is a reason why in 2022 this remains necessary, on many levels.
Just focusing on the workplace and facilities management perspective, last year’s Pay and Prospects research showed how women are still underrepresented in the FM sphere, making up only 29% of all respondents. This is consistent with our Impact and Experience Survey data from 2020, which shows that women represented 26% of all respondents across our profession.
Our own EDI activity is making sure that, alongside other protected characteristics, we advance women’s profiles and achievements, checking our own bias along the way, whether it is when considering representation across the Awards, our Conference and events programme, our policies and professional standards, and our communities, so we can move closer to achieving equity, diversity and inclusion for all.
Focusing squarely on women today, we have our own Women in FM Special Interest Group to be proud of and they have pulled together an apt celebration of the day. Having built a strong repertoire of activity in this area, with their own conference (the next one, themed on #Breakingthebias is scheduled for 28 September – keep a look out for more news soon!), this IWD they are letting the voices speak for themselves with dedicated videos you can find on WIFM’s LinkedIn page and IWFM’s social media channels.
For those wanting to read more about the data around women in FM, and our equity, diversity and inclusion agenda, there are several resources: