Saturday 8th of March is International Women’s Day (IWD). For some, the need and importance of IWD is not always fully understood – a sample of people across 24 countries were asked whether they agree that ‘when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, things have gone far enough in my country.’ The number of people in the UK agreeing with this statement has jumped from 25 per cent in 2018 to 38 per cent in 2025, behind only South Africa, South Korea and Brazil in a sample of 24 countries.’
On March 6th, the House of Lords held a debate marking International Women’s Day, and focused on the steps being taken to promote women’s participation and leadership in science and technology, because despite the idea that equality has ‘come far enough,’ women are still largely under-represented across STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in both the UK and globally.
So, lets break down some reasons why this day is still so vital, 115 years after its conception, and why giving equal rights to women still has a long way to go.
Education and Employment: Both in the UK and internationally, data highlights that fewer woman are employed within STEM fields than men.
This year’s IWD theme is women in science and technology, and within the UK, overall, women in further education are less likely to study STEM subject than men. At both A-Level and degree level, the only subjects showing a higher proportion of female students are Chemistry and Biology, with women being severely outnumbered in Further Maths, Computer Science, Physics and Total Maths. This trend is also seen globally, with women making up only 35% of STEM graduates.
Whilst the difference in certain areas are small, in engineering and IT, women are still incredibly far behind men when it comes to employment in these fields, highlighting how the gender gap in the studying of STEM subjects, has then translated into a gender gap in employment.
AI Technologies: Women only make up 22% of those working in AI globally
A rise in AI technologies has not been accompanied by women working in this field. Professor Elena Gaura has highlighted why this is such an issue, stating that ‘AI systems are shaped by those who design them, meaning that a lack of gender diversity can lead to biased algorithms that fail to serve broad societal needs. Without the contributions of women, the risk of encoding and perpetuating discriminatory patterns in AI models becomes a pressing concern.’
Systematic Bias: Research shows that science faculty’s subtle gender biases favour male students
However, with more women attending university than ever, what is the barrier to women and girls pursuing a career in STEM?
Well, arguably, STEM careers have systematic biases in place that make it harder for women to enter certain fields. For example, out of a survey of 557 female scientists, two thirds of them reported to having to prove themselves over and over again. This is something backed by social psychologists (this 2012 study is a great example) and has now been vocalised by the people living it.
This has created a ‘drop to the top’ in which women become underrepresented in C-Suite positions, a gap which is more prominent in STEM careers than in non-STEM related fields.
Representation: Outside of STEM, women make up just 31.7% of senior leaders within the global workforce
Women are also under-represented in C-Suite positions. While women are close to occupying nearly half of entry-level positions, they fall short of representing just one quarter of C-suite roles. This can in part be attributed to women consistently being judged as having less leadership potential than their male counterparts, making them 14% less likely to be promoted each year.
Gender Pay Gaps: No country in the world has reached gender parity
The gender pay gap is very much still a part of the global economy. The World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Report benchmarks gender parity across 146 economies, (which is measured across 4 categories; economic opportunities, education, health and political leadership). Iceland is currently in the lead globally, having reached 93.5%, and the UK is currently ranked 14th globally, having reached 78.9% gender parity (a 0.2% increase from 2023). However, the ‘drop from the top’ means that the difference in pay between men and women is largest amongst high earners.
This is not to say that positive change hasn’t been made – 97% of economies included having closed more than 60% of their gap (up from 85% in 2006). However, globally, the gender gap currently sits at 68.6%, showing that things have not yet gone far enough when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, in the UK, or any country.
So, what does this mean for International Women’s Day?
This year’s IWD theme is Accelerate Action, which on a larger scale, this means impactful organisations and groups across the world delivering affective strategies that help accelerate action through, amongst many things…
- forging women’s economic empowerment
- recruiting, retaining and developing diverse talent
- supporting women and girls into leadership, decision-making, business and STEM
But on an individual level, steps can be taken in our daily lives to impact women’s advancement. This can be done by; ‘calling out stereotypes, challenging discrimination, questioning bias, celebrating women’s success, and sharing knowledge and encouragement with others’ all in aid of building an equal world for women.
