SI Cannock & District marked International Women’s Day 2021 by featuring 12 local women on their social media, their website and by inviting them to a special evening conducted on Zoom.
The theme this year is #ChooseToChallenge – gender equality.
These women have chosen to challenge stereotypes by going into careers traditionally thought of as male roles. Cannock Soroptimists approached a firefighter, prison officer, a Sky technician, a local Councillor, an MP, and CEOs of local organisations to ask them to share their experiences, positive and negative, of having a successful career in what might be seen as mainly a man’s world. They also wanted to highlight how working mothers have coped during the pandemic, juggling working from home with home schooling alongside running a home and all that entails.
Seven of the women were able to accept the invitation to join the meeting to mark International Women’s Day 2021 – the others were working or at pre-arranged meetings. They were joined by Soroptimists from other clubs in the Midland Chase area and from Port Talbot, Wales and Harrisburg, USA: 41 in all!
The women were asked to say a little about ways they have handled gender discrimination. They had all found different ways of doing this, but the main theme that ran through their responses was that having confidence in their abilities gave them the strength to carry on despite some often major setbacks. They also found that proving those abilities often meant that they received the respect they deserved from their male colleagues.
They were also asked about what advice they would give to younger women thinking of embarking on similar paths to theirs – it was a resounding ‘Go for it!’ What was obvious with all of the answers our women gave was the desire they had to ‘bring others with them’ on their journey to achieving success in their chosen careers. They advised that the ability to empathise with those they work with was key to a harmonious working environment. Another feature of everyone’s answers was the importance of role models whether that be family or school.
Before the meeting ended, everyone held a hand up high to show our commitment to choose to challenge and call out inequality.
Photos attached: 1.Hayley Baxter, CEO, Pathway at the meeting
2 – Amanda milling MP at the meeting
3 – Zoom shot of some participants at SI Cannock & District’s International Women’s day meeting, all raising a hand high
4 – Kathy Coe, founder of Pathway at the meeting