HIC Breaking The Bias

History of IWD

Today is international women’s day, a day that celebrates and recognises how far women have come in society, politics, and economics. This year’s theme is ‘breaking the bias”; the theme is geared towards empowering people to create a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination against women. Bias doesn’t live in one home, it’s found in our communities, our workplace, our schools, and Universities. Everyone has a role to play and that’s why it is vital to create awareness and conversation, not just today on IWD but every day. The theme changes every year to allow us as a society to focus on the different aspects of what equality is and how we can go about changing our society to become equal. The concept of IWD started back in 1908 when 15,000 women of New York protested for better rights for women, such as better pay and working hours. The momentum continued throughout the years and the first official International Women’s Day was celebrated in 1975.?

Law began to change in the 1970s, with the Equal Pay Act introduced in 1970, which meant that by law employers must treat men and women equally. The Sex Discrimination Act was then introduced in 1975, an act that protected men and women from discrimination based on their sex or marital status. Until maternity leave was introduced in the 1970s, many women were continually sacked from their jobs due to falling pregnant. However, it wasn’t until 1993 that maternity leave was extended to all working women through the Employment Protection Act.?

Changing attitudes

When laws change, so do social attitudes. However, often society takes longer to embrace these changes. In the mid-1980s when laws supporting women rights were introduced, it was reported that 43% of people still endorsed the statement?‘a man’s job is to earn money; a woman’s job is to look after the home and family';?In 2012, only 13% of people had this view. Whilst it is evident how much society’s attitudes have changed over the past 40+ years, specifically in the workplace, crippling issues for women still remain to this day.?

Workplace inequality?

The Gender Pay Gap in the UK is still a hot topic. In 2004, the Gender pay gap for full-time workers stood at 14.5%, and today we see it stand at 7.9%. Despite the decrease, the gap is still there, which seems inconceivable in today’s day and age. We also see SMEs mostly being led and supported by men, with it being reported by HMRC that only 17% of SMEs are run by women, meaning that only 1% of venture funding goes to businesses founded by all-female teams.??

Inclusivity at HIC

Despite some of the issues raised above, huge progress has been made over the years, although there is evidently still a way to go for equality between the sexes. At HIC we are a small growing team, made up of 9 individuals – 4 women and 5 men. The Senior Management team is made up of 3 women and 2 men. Ability and expertise are not determined by gender and that’s why at HIC we exercise equality and inclusivity across the whole spectrum from gender, race, religion and sex. At HIC we want to harness great talent and #breakthebias, and as a business we will continue to work towards a world free of stereotypes, inequality, and discrimination.?

Founded in 2021 by CEO Hadleigh Stollar, HIC challenges the status quo surrounding the adoption and spread of technology and innovation across the NHS and Social care. Our aim is to support the health and care system with the right skills and experiences to improve efficiency, efficacy, and productivity. HIC works with several reliable, reputable, and respected partners, who have complementary experience in this sector.

Because innovation is everyone’s business, we’ve made it ours.?

www.hicdigital.co.uk