Today (8th March) is International Women’s Day, which is a day where we identify, celebrate, and increase the visibility of women’s achievements.

The History of International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day grew from the labour movement. The seeds of this special day were originally planted and developed in 1908, where 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York City demanding shorter working hours, the right to vote and equal pay. It took until 1975, where the event was made official by the United Nations. International Women’s Day has become a monumental event to celebrate how far women have come in our society, politics, and economics.

What can we do?

We can rally behind women on this day to help accelerate progress, share your stories, celebrate the powerful women in our lives and help change our future one step at a time. This is an extremely important day for everyone not just women, as successes within gender equality can make our world a better place to live and nurture.

What is System C doing?

Recently System C’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee was set up (DEI&B). We have a commitment to continue creating a company where people of diverse backgrounds and identities feel valued. This allows all ideas and contributions to thrive as we believe that diversity is a foundational principle here at System C.

Hear from two of our committee members, Lou Hutcheson, a Technical Writer at System C as well as Liz Weir who is one of our Software Designers about their experiences and what challenges they have faced during their careers.

Lou

“What in your career has been an impactful achievement?”

I’ve worn a lot of different hats throughout my career – editor, test engineer, test manager, business analyst, technical writer. To do that, I’ve had to be fearless. I’ve demanded opportunities, fair compensation, and fought for myself and my colleagues. In short, I’ve been bold, I’ve been outspoken, and that makes me powerful.

“What challenges have you faced as a woman?”

People underestimate you – from an author once refusing to respond to my edits because I was “just a wee lassie” to a male colleague remarking that I had received a promotion to a senior role “to check a diversity box”. I’ve had to learn to advocate for my skills and for recognition of them.

“How can we all support women in the workplace?”

First, listen! Then speak up, declare yourself an ally, call out problems and advocate for equity.

Liz

“What in your career has been an impactful achievement?”

During my stint on the Rapid Response team, a bug was causing system-generated letters (with incorrect information in) to be sent. After spending a couple of days investigating (and a few red herrings), I found the culprit, prepared a fix, and worked with the Support team to help them communicate the scope of the issue to customers and get the fix applied.

“What challenges have you faced as a woman?”

I’ve worked in a culture where colleagues made occasional dismissive and scornful comments behind other women’s backs. It’s a horrible situation to be in – I have no idea if I was getting similar treatment or if the respect, I was shown to my face was sincere, but either way, it made me lose faith in the organisation and anxious about reprisals if I stood up for them or for myself. It made me surer than ever that how you treat people when they aren’t around is just as vital to respect and good faith as how you are to their faces.

“How can we all support women in the workplace?”

Respect our expertise – there’s nothing worse than proposing an idea, being shut down, and hearing someone else congratulated for saying the same thing fifteen minutes later.

Next Steps

To learn more about this important and historic day, take a look at the UN Women website which tells you all you need to know.

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