#EmbracingEquity this International Women's Day

Today (Wednesday 8 March) is International Women’s Day. It is an opportunity to reflect on the progress made towards gender equality, celebrate the achievements of women, and commit to doing more to ensure that workplaces are diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

What is the theme for this year?

The theme for 2023 is Embrace Equity. The theme focuses on embracing equity and acknowledging it isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have and gender equity needs to be part of every society’s DNA.

What’s the difference between equality and equity?

Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities.

Equity recognises that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.

Over the past few decades, significant progress has been made towards gender equality in the workplace. There’s more women than ever before participating in the workforce and taking on leadership roles in various industries.

The goal is to encourage everyone to break down prejudice towards women and we can all embrace equity today and throughout the year.

Here are some of the things we’ve been doing to #EmbraceEquity at Salix Homes, both at the workplace and in our communities.

Menopause Policy and Support Group

Research shows that the workplace loses women who are experiencing menopause due to inadequate support, which impacts women’s equity in the workplace.

Last year, we launched our Menopause Policy on World Menopause Day.

We also held our very first menopause support group which demonstrated to attendees that they are not alone and prompting some to approach their doctors with positive outcomes.

Period friendly workplace

Not having access to menstrual products puts women at a disadvantage in the workplace. Research indicated that many people struggle to afford or access period products. This is known as period inequality or ‘period poverty’.

We recently introduced free period products into all of our toilets to make sure everyone at Salix Homes has access to these products.

Making simple yet small changes like this, can contribute towards a more inclusive workplace.

Unconscious Bias Training

In January this year, we delivered training on Unconscious Bias to managers which raised awareness of how this can influence how we see certain roles occupied by different genders in the workplace. Unconscious bias is sometimes known as stereotyping, where someone’s decisions are influenced by their beliefs or assumptions.

Our colleague, Hannah

Today we are celebrating our colleague Hannah Sykes, who is breaking stereotypes in her role as a Roofers Mate in our Repairs and Maintenance Team. We’ve still got work to do, so we asked Hannah how we, and other housing associations, can embrace equity to attract more women to our trade roles.

What would you say to women thinking about a career in a trade job?

“There’s a world full of opportunities, so why not try something new? Don’t put a limit on what you can do!”

How can housing associations attract more women to trade roles?

“Advertise roles with pictures of women doing trade jobs, as I feel if they’d be more inclined to try the position.

“Also offering taster days and more opportunities to learn on the job.”

Gender Pay Gap

Gender pay is about the differences in the average pay between men and women.

At Salix Homes, in 2022/23, our median average hourly rate for women is £16.55, for men it was £14.20, giving a median gender pay gap of £2.35, representative of 14.20%. This is the lowest % difference since reporting commenced in 2017/18 and shows a narrowing of the gender pay gap.

You can read the full report on our website.

In our communities

Salford Women and Girls’ Commission

Our CEO Sue Sutton has been part of a key project to progress gender equality in Salford.

Sue is one of the Commissioners of the Salford Women and Girls’ Commission, which was established last year following the shocking murder of Sarah Everard.

Today, on International Women’s Day, the group launched a new report, which highlights some of the key issues affecting women and girls across Salford and sets out recommendations for how they can be addressed.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing the findings of the report and looking at how we can use it to help tackle gender equality in our communities and within our own organisation.

You can read the report here: Salford Women and Girls’ Commission | Partners in Salford

Free DIY course

We’re proud to work alongside our partners to deliver a free training course to 15 women, who are unemployed or on a low income.

From 6-10 March, the ‘Free DIY and Home Maintenance Training Course for Women’ is teaching DIY and home maintenance skills, such as decorating, tiling and how to carry out simple plumbing work.

The participants will also be getting advice on how they can reduce their energy costs and the support and guidance they need to get into work.

Find out more on our partner’s Guinness Partnership’s website.

#EmbraceEquity

Hugging yourself in an embrace is a great way to show your support for the theme. By striking the pose and using the hashtag #EmbraceEquity you can encourage others to celebrate the day and contribute to a more inclusive world.