Women's Views on News |
- Mass lobby to defend women’s pension rights
- Create a step change – demand 50:50
- How to achieve gender equality
| Mass lobby to defend women’s pension rights Posted: 27 Jun 2016 09:31 AM PDT
Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) is a campaign group for women born in the 1950s who will not be getting their state pension at 60 and who are angry because the government did not inform them in time of the two changes to their pension age – and who face poverty despite having paid their national insurance as required. For because of the timescale when the changes were introduced, hundreds of thousands of women born in the 1950s had no opportunity to make any contingency plans for retirement. And many women born in the 1950s were not allowed to join private pension schemes or had to retire early to care for relatives or because of personal illness, so the state pension will be their only source of income. WASPI is campaigning to put this right. WASPI is campaigning for fair transitional arrangements such as a bridging pension to provide an income from age 60 to the new State Pension Age (SPA), and that this is not means-tested, given that WASPI members who have paid in and have also managed to save should not be punished again. A national demo and mass lobby of MPs has been set up to take place at the Houses of Parliament on 29 June. But even if you can't get there you too have a role to play. On Demo Day, you can be part of the Home Team! WASPI suggests that you write to your own MP – whether or not supportive – a very short email on the lines of: Today I would be in London demonstrating with WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality), but I cannot be there because 'I am forced to work' 'carrying out caring duties' 'looking after the grandkids' 'unable to walk/too unwell' 'cannot afford to travel' (whatever your personal circumstances). If you can, include a photo of yourself with something saying WASPI – be that a piece of paper or your WASPI sash. If s/he is on Facebook, put a similar message on their facebook page. If you are on Twitter and your MP is also, send him/her a similar tweet. Send your email also to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Stephen Crabb at Stephen.crabb.mp@parliament.uk Put a similar message on his facebook page – and Tweet him on @scrabbmp Do not send long messages (short and sharp is best!) and do not expect any response. Make your voice heard – they will get to see or be told about whatever you do. You may also wish to send emails and tweets to your local media: newspapers, regional/local radio and TV. To have maximum impact, please do all or any of the above on the demo day itself – not before or after – and be part of the WASPI women swarm! |
| Create a step change – demand 50:50 Posted: 27 Jun 2016 09:29 AM PDT
Despite significant investment in media campaigns, outreach activities, and educational programmes aimed at women – many are still scratching their head as to why nothing is changing. Although the reasons for under-representation are complex, the solution might be incredibly simple. What if powerful institutions started to demand 50:50? The Engineering department at UCL (University College London) identified in 2014 that they had the power to dictate the gender representation of the students that attended their education programmes. They saw that they could set the rules by demanding teachers to bring girls and boys in equal numbers. In a matter of months something unprecedented happened: the number of female applicants to their engineering courses started to outstrip the male. By demanding 50:50, UCL were able to create a step change in the representation of female students on their courses- and it happened almost overnight. This shift has been extraordinarily effective but change is never easy. Demand 50:50 has required a resilience and dedication from the team delivering the new policy. Here is a guest post from Dr Elpida Makrygianni, head of pre-19 Engineering Education and Engagement, which explains more about UCL's story: In 1878 UCL became the first university in England to admit women on equal terms with men. Today, UCL is the only UK University to hold both a Silver Athena SWAN Award and a Race Equality Charter Bronze Award. So, I guess it is in our DNA, in our values and our founding ethos to take issues around diversity and equality very seriously and propose quite radical ideas and strategies to tackle them. Widening diversity in every sense and increasing gender equality has been a key priority for me since first joining UCL Faculty of Engineering more than two years ago. Pre 19 engineering programmes Engineering is about being passionate in changing the world for the better. It is and always had been about people. As engineers, this is what excites us about engineering, improving, protecting and even saving lives of others. So we created outreach activities based on cutting edge research occurring in our labs with a strong social context or environmental mission. We designed programmes that provided a real experience with memories of making things for the first time, failing and trying again and then succeeding, feeling pride or feeling part of a team, making friends while working on authentic projects to solve real-world challenge. We wanted to take young people on a learning journey that would show them what engineers actually do while developing their problem-solving skills, knowledge and self-confidence. We wanted to ensure that girls and boys from a very early age received an equal opportunity to experience engineering so we also developed programmes for children as young as 5 years old. Within a few days of advertising the pre-19 courses hundreds of applications reached us. We received numerous calls and emails everyday about our activities, but there was one problem, the request on the other side of the phone… "I have some lovely boys that would really enjoy your activities"… "my boys would love this"… "my son is going to study engineering and it would be a great opportunity for him"…and so on, for months, again and again. My heart sank. It became clear that girls were not being told about the choices that are out there for them; they were not been given real choice and so they are not in the position to make informed subject and career choices. Their extraordinary potential was being limited by unconscious bias, stereotype threat and what society sees fit for them at a personal and professional level. The 50:50 strategy This is when the 50:50 strategy came to life. Our faculty would be insisting and ensuring 50 per cent of girls participating across all our pre-19 engagement programmes. 50:50 is our commitment to sending a clear message to break down the stereotypical messages that have created invisible barriers and are holding back young girls, affecting their confidence, lowering their expectations of themselves and their career choices. We advertised as widely as possible through school networks, organisations, institutions, industry partners and anyone who would care to listen. The first six months were challenging. Some people could not understand why we put in place such a strategy, they thought we were discriminating, favouring girls. "If the girls were not interested, why did we care?" "Just let the boys do engineering, they are better at it." That is what they said. But how can you know you are good at something if you haven't been given the opportunity to try it first? Fairness, not discrimination Let's make something absolutely clear; 50:50 is about fairness. From start to finish it has been about including groups who would otherwise be excluded from engineering due to invisible social structures. We considered the diversity of young people and catered for a broad range of abilities and levels of understanding to ensure inclusiveness, equality and accessibility. We ensured good gender and racial representation of staff and students in our engagement programmes with young people. We actively encourage our students to become mentors, tutors and volunteer their time to engage with children and young people. Getting the best young people through our programmes irrespective of gender, race or social backgrounds was never negotiable. Spaces would always go to the most deserving person, the best applicants according to knowledge, ability and selection criteria. We never lowered our standards to meet our strategic requirements. We wouldn't do it and we didn't have to. Funnily enough, practically every single application we received from girls over the past couple of years ranged from very good to excellent. Soon after adopting 50:50 something awesome happened. Schools partnering with us on programmes would email me saying that they had a record of applications or interest for our activities. The examples are endless! From a London school where more than 200 girls from that school applied for our programme, a network of schools that saw an increase in applications from 14 per cent to 42 per cent from girls, to partner programmes where girls' applications were 3 times as many as boys. And I could just go on. Requiring 50 per cent participation of girls across all our programmes, activities and events was never just about getting a 50:50 gender balanced ratio. It was and still is about sending a clear, strong, consistent message in the classroom, at home and to society. Show all your children real choice. Show young girls and boys real choice not just in engineering, for all subjects, do not unconsciously sabotage their fascinating potential. 50:50 was and is about what type of society we want. This was not just about getting more women in engineering or STEM, it is about the female voice and female perspective being heard across all areas and fields as is the male perspective. This is just the start We are not under any illusion here. We have a long way to go before we meet any of the gender equality or diversity challenges in science and engineering. Recognising systemic gender bias is important, language and imagery is also crucial but sustained meaningful action and commitment to a strong consistent message in our everyday actions is what will bring change. UCL cannot do it on our own If we keep on working in silos, even our best efforts will be piecemeal, abstract and short-lived. If we allow some of our brightest minds to be left behind because of unconscious biases that society has put in place for them it is our collective failure. We take this message very seriously and want to work in partnership across the sector to maximize our impact. This is an open call to join us in our mission! Demand 50:50! A version of this post first appeared on the Science Grrl site in May 2016. |
| How to achieve gender equality Posted: 27 Jun 2016 09:27 AM PDT
Win-win partnerships are key to achieving women's and girls' economic empowerment and will lead the way towards sustainable development, according to Plan International, UNIDO, UN Women and the World Bank. Women's and girls' economic empowerment sets a direct path towards achieving gender equality and is a critical element of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Achieving this will require all actors, whether governments, international institutions, civil society organisations or the private sector, to move beyond 'business as usual' and employ new ways of thinking and acting. That was the message delivered at this year's European Development Days, Europe’s leading forum on development and international cooperation, during the high-level panel on "Building win-win partnerships for women's and girls' economic empowerment" on 16 June. "Women's and girls' empowerment is probably the most important part of sustainability as they are half the world's population," Arup Banerji, Regional Director for EU Countries, Europe and Central Asia at The World Bank Group, said. Girls and women remain disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination and exploitation. Gender discrimination often means that girls and women end up in insecure, unprotected and low-wage jobs; it curtails their access to financial resources and control and ownership of property; it limits their participation in shaping economic and social policies. And because girls and women perform the bulk of household work, they often have little time left to pursue economic or educational opportunities. "We have been addressing symptoms for years but not root causes," Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, CEO of child rights and humanitarian organization Plan International said. "We must tackle basic discriminatory social norms that create barriers to girls' and women's economic empowerment." Drawing on approaches captured by the UN High-Level Panel on Women's Economic Empowerment, strategies from the World Bank, UNIDO, UN Women, and Plan International and the EU Action Plan on Gender Equality in External Relations, participants on the panel explored how to create such win-win partnerships and realise targets pertaining to girls and women's economic empowerment in the 2030 Agenda. "Gender inequality has many facets and the causes are historically embedded within laws and cultures, so we need a variety of different actors and partnerships from across the board to get involved in challenging the multiple discriminations faced by women and girls around the world," UN Women's executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka explained. The private sector, accounting for 90 per cent of jobs in developing countries, will have a particularly important role to play in achieving economic empowerment for women and girls. In this context, it is crucial for non-profit organisations to understand the criteria needed for an effective and mutually beneficial partnership. Under the title "Sustainable Development Goals in Action," this year's European Development Days were all about implementation, and as was highlighted by the participants during the panel, women's and girls' economic empowerment is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development. "When we talk about leaving no one behind, the one group that is easy to identify in every country is women and girls," Mlambo-Ngcuka pointed out. "In order to fully achieve the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda, we must start by addressing gender inequality and the challenges faced by women and girls." But how can we ensure that all the actors keep their promises to the world's women and girls? Panellists agreed that collecting more and better data on issues affecting women and girls around the world would play a crucial role in ensuring that the 2030 Agenda delivers for them. "What we don't know, we can't solve," Banerji pointed out. One key solution to ensuring we understand what girls and women face and need is to let them have a say. Ayesha Durrani, a young leader and business owner from Pakistan, said: "If women and girls don't have a say, progress won't happen." "We need to give girls themselves a voice to challenge basic social norms and we need to stand by them," Albrectsen added. To listen to the talks and pane discussions, click here. |
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