Equity for Women: The Past and Present
The first step towards equity for women emerged in the late 19th century where thousands of female workers took to the streets to demand restitution that reflected their struggles and contributions to society. As a result, International Women’s Day was created and millions of men and women campaigned for women’s rights, “to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination.”
For many decades, International Women’s Day stood as the only day in the year that women’s issues were highlighted on a significant scale. It wasn’t until 1992, after years of campaigning, that the Government of Canada designated October as Women’s History Month to celebrate the achievements of women throughout the country’s history. Two years later, the U.S made March Women’s History Month to coincide with International Women’s Day.
Over a century after International Women’s Day was globally honoured, and almost 30 years since the designation of Women’s History Month, women continue to earn less per hour, on average, compared to their male counterparts – one of the many reasons these events are celebrated annually to this day.
Why keep honouring International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month?
At the tail end of the 19th century, more women began to enter the workforce after the need for labour dramatically increased. Women occupied most of the light manufacturing industry, unable to collect payment free of their husband’s control until 1872.
To combat dangerous working conditions, female shoemakers went on strike against the five largest factories in Toronto. In 1884, the Ontario Factories Act passed, which restricted female workers to 60-hour work weeks and improved working conditions, among other advancements.
During the First World War, women were encouraged to join the workforce. Since women were working jobs traditionally for men, any modifications made to adapt the process and machinery was deemed as a “change in the work” and thus resulted in lower wages than male workers would have received.
Fast forward to 1975 - even though society slowly looked more favourably on women working non-traditional jobs, women still only earned 60 cents to every dollar their male counterparts made. For the 70% of women in the workforce, this wasn’t enough progress.
Following the consortium of women’s groups and historians in Santa Rosa, California, U.S president Jimmy Carter declared the week of March 8th, 1980 the first Women’s History Week. By 1987, March had officially become Women’s History Month. Similarly, the Government of Canada set October as Women’s History Month to celebrate women’s achievements and continue to highlight pressing issues.
Even so, as late as the 1990s, women in managerial and sales positions earned a fraction of what their male counterparts earned.
So, why do we continue to honour International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month? Because the fight for equity isn’t over.
Today’s World
Equity and equality are not synonyms, even though we often use them interchangeably. This year’s International Women’s Day theme #EmbraceEquity emphasizes that equality is no longer enough for meaningful change. Equity recognizes individual struggles and offers unique solutions; equality only provides the same solution to everyone, regardless of personal circumstance. To amplify the voices of women who overcame personal struggles throughout history, Women’s History Month 2023 focused on Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.
In celebration of women’s achievements and to recognize individual stories, we sat down with three influential women of Bunzl to talk about the world of corporate business and leadership from a woman’s perspective.
Women in STEM
Our first interviewee was Kim Jack, the Vice President of IT for Bunzl Canada, who discussed how her interest in IT began and prospered into a successful career.
“In grade two we had computers in the classroom with a type of programming language called ‘Turtle’ installed onto it. Really early on, I understood that I had an aptitude for programming,” said Jack. “Are girls encouraged to go into computer science and IT? No, absolutely not. It wasn't even presented as a possible path.”
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In 2021, Statistics Canada reported that only 29% of those enrolled in a traditional STEM bachelor’s degree were women. It’s only within the last few decades that women have started pursuing education and jobs that represent dramatic departures from the homemaking jobs they were historically limited to. Girls were allowed to attend provincial public school in 1871, but the only available post-secondary study at that time trained them on the “arts and graces of life”. We’ve come a long way since then, as women are able to study STEM, work in STEM-related fields, teach STEM and encourage young girls to do the same – but there is still a long way go to see greater gender parody within STEM.
“Many times in my IT career, I've been the only woman in the room; it was intimidating. Anyone should be able to walk into the room and feel that they can contribute, but they need to see themselves in the room to feel comfortable. We need women in leadership positions so that those behind can see a potential future in these roles,” said Jack.
Women as Equals
Our second interviewee was Catherine Marston, National Purchasing Manager for Bunzl Canada, who discussed balance and diversity in the workplace and offered a look into her impressive career.
“My dad was a warehouse manager. I would work for him in high school during the summer and then from there it became a full-time position because I enjoyed it,” said Marston. “My growth led me to becoming a senior buyer and shifting into a management role. It's the job, the inner reward of the job, and the people that continue to interest me. You build that relationship, family, and teamwork – and then you don't want to leave.”
Even as women were allowed post-secondary education, there was still a massive disparity in where women could work – typically nurturing and homemaking jobs.
“Balance in the job you do and gender equality of the people that are doing the jobs is critical. [As a woman] you need to have a bit louder of a voice sometimes but also be observing," said Marston. “Once again, it comes back to that balance. You need to be able to pivot and work with your employees and leadership. If you have the ability to be flexible in that way and continue to teach and learn, then you should be very successful.”
Women as Leaders
Our final interviewee was Cindy Lutchman, Director of Vendor and Brand Management for Bunzl Canada who explained the perception of women in leadership and the steppingstones that led to her role as a leader.
“I definitely didn’t wake up thinking I wanted to work with vendors and brands. I studied business in university. When it was time to start applying for jobs, I chose marketing because the creativity around it sounded exciting and fun. But it was really the people, relationship building and understanding how people think that pulled me in,” said Lutchman.
A common career for a young woman in the mid-19th century was teaching and were trained to become public school teachers in post-secondary schooling. Though their career options had increased, women were often kept in lower ranks with supervision from their male superiors to perpetuate their place in society as subordinates.
“For generations, women have demonstrated their capabilities, strength, and value. It’s time to accelerate the changes that are slowly taking place. I've faced many challenges as a woman and one moment that comes to mind was when I was referred to as ‘too emotional’ when I spoke up for what was right,” said Lutchman. ?“I was also the only woman sitting at the boardroom table.
“As you grow in your career, you'll encounter a lot of challenges. A lot of it is because of unconscious biases that have been ingrained for decades in people's minds and passed on from generation to generation. Don't be phased by it. Continue to go after what you want, and don't feel like you deserve less than anyone,” said Lutchman.
International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month are important testaments in the progress many women have pioneered throughout history. We continue to celebrate and honour them every year to acknowledge the centuries of campaigning, striking and lobbying, to celebrate the women who continue to stand up for their rights and to encourage today’s society to keep pushing towards equity for all.