Inspire inclusion, empower women and girls

“Inspire inclusion”. This is the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, and something many of us have been focused on in our places of work for some time. Whether it is business leaders ensuring that policies and procedures help enable women’s progression or addressing cultural challenges and barriers that sadly all too often still exist, the workplace has a major role to play. And there is still much that can be done to make meaningful and sustained progress. ?

But what about the ways organizations can inspire inclusion outside the workplace? And what role can we play personally?

We may be in 2024, but the reality is that millions of girls are still denied access to formal education – indeed, according to UNICEF, a staggering 129 million girls worldwide are not in school. And of those girls who are in education, many will likely be unable to reach their full potential because of poverty (including period poverty), cultural norms, lack of safety or limited academic provision in their communities.

I am so proud of the focus Deloitte has had on education and skills-building for women and girls through our WorldClass societal impact programmes—supporting projects around the world ranging from collaborating with education foundations in India, to mentoring girls from disadvantaged groups in France and supporting women entrepreneurs in Indonesia.

These initiatives are powered by the passion and commitment of our people, who volunteer, mentor, and coach women and girls at different stages of their educational journeys. Ten-year-old Wei from Hubei province in China is mentored remotely by Angela, a Deloitte China professional who lives in Shanghai, over 1000 km away. With Wei’s parents away working in a big city, she benefits from Angela’s guidance and support, building her confidence and curiosity, call after call. And in India, Kajal is the first in her family to reach post-secondary education – having been supported by her Deloitte India mentor and the skills development opportunities provided by the collaboration between Deloitte India and Udayan Care.

But it doesn’t have to just be a long-term relationship for each of us to make a difference to someone’s life – it can just be a few minutes of time taken to share experiences and advice. When I am asked to speak to girls in school I will always try and do it – whether that is my own children’s school or one that Deloitte supports through its WorldClass activities. I am open about my career journey – the things I got right and the things I didn’t. And I try and remove preconceptions about what skills are needed for success. This bit in particular is so important – indeed, I still remember giving a talk to students at a secondary school that Deloitte UK supports in East London; I shared my passion at school for history and English – and my dislike of all things STEM! I told them about how my love of these subjects had built my analytical and problem-solving skills – and how much I used, and benefitted from, these skills in my career at Deloitte. I also told them that this was a career path that I had never seen as achievable when I was at school – but that in reality it was the opposite. After the talk I was surrounded by girls telling me that they felt inspired – that they shared my dislike of all things STEM but could now see a possible career path. That talk took less than an hour of my time.

So my call to action this IWD is this: if you get asked to talk to students about your career, say yes. I know we are all so time pressed – but all it takes is an hour to impact lives. And if you do have more time think about joining mentoring schemes, like Angela did. A little bit of your time, a listening ear, openness and genuine advice based on your own journey is sometimes all that is needed to unlock someone’s potential, and to help build a more equitable future.

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Learn more about the WorldClass projects where Deloitte is positively impacting the lives of women and girls here.