International Women’s Day an important marker for how far we have to go

Australia still has a ways to go before the gender pay gap is closed. I, for one, can’t wait until we’re celebrating Gender Equality Day instead.

I would like to live in a world in which we celebrate Gender Equality Day.

National Women’s Days emerged in Europe and the US during early 20th Century labour movements and gained momentum around the world until, in 1977, the United Nations began celebrating March 8 as International Women’s Day.

Today in Australia, marking International Women’s Day can range from well-meaning cupcakes to a genuine celebration and acknowledgment of the many accomplishments of women, with no regard to race, culture, religion, influence or politics.

It can be an occasion to reflect on how far we have come in our efforts for equality and can be an opportunity to unite, inspire and mobilise for women’s rights and equal opportunity to participate in all facets of society.

While there is much more to be done in Australia to advance equality of opportunity for women, we should on a day like this look around the world, where in many places conditions for women and girls are perilous, and be grateful for the progress that has been made in Australia.

Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, former Mirvac CEO, is now a non-executive director and president of Chief Executive Women. Picture: Supplied

Feminist or not, most Australians believe in the concept of a ‘fair go for all’. Imagine if we could create a world which embodies a ‘fair go’ which is gender equitable and inclusive, with no bias or restrictive gender norms.

But of course, we’re nowhere near that world. Last week’s release of the Gender Pay Gap data by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency is but one illustration of how we fall short of our vision for equality for all, for the good of all.

At 19 per cent, Australia’s pay gap is way too large. Yet I was encouraged by the level of coverage and discourse, the many public debates on why those gaps exist and why different industries and companies can have very different outcomes for men and women.

Many of us argued strongly about the drivers behind this, and unsurprisingly, there are many completely contradictory views.

I reflected on how the various views, while hopefully informed by some data, are also the result of assumptions we make and beliefs we hold, typically born from our own experiences and biases.

So, what if we abandoned the assumption we know why people make the choices they do, and instead focused on giving all people more choices and possibilities?

Providing every Australian with freedom of choice and equal opportunities benefits us all. In our journey towards a world of a fair go for all, we need to provide both men and women with real choices and real opportunities, removing the assumptions and structures which limit choice.

We know the cost of early childhood education can be a limiting factor to workforce participation. What if we made it free? Would this open up a whole range of possibilities for families of all shapes and sizes as they make choices about workforce participation and raising children?

What if we dismantled the stigma men can face when taking extended parental leave and introduced ‘use it or lose it’ provisions? Would this free up more men to take time away from the workforce in the critical early childhood years, and enjoy the many benefits — as well as the challenges — which come with it?

Australia has one of the most gender-segregated workforces in the OECD, which we seem to largely take as a given, and in which women are overrepresented in lower-paying industries and roles.

What if we paid our nurses, for example, as much as we do our construction workers? Would this go some way to making care industries more attractive to more people?

Conversely, what if we made work practices in some highly paid industries such as construction and mining more conducive to participation by a greater proportion of the workforce? Would we be addressing the major skills gaps in our economy?

What if Australian companies invested in truly diverse talent pipelines and set gender balance targets for their leadership teams? Would they reap all the proven benefits that come from truly diverse teams such as greater profits, stronger talent attraction and retention, higher returns and lower risk profiles?

When we address the practices, structures and beliefs which trap us in a world far from diverse, equitable and inclusive, we will create more choices for people of all genders and deliver a significant economic uplift for the benefit of all Australians.

According to Deloitte, a 2 per cent increase in female participation in the workforce has the potential to increase GDP by $11 billion. Gender equality isn’t just about making things better for women, it’s about making things better for men also through greater choice for all and economic uplift.

So let’s use IWD to bust the myth which says reaching for gender equality is a seesaw in which, if one side rises, the other must, by definition, fall.

An equitable world will not just be better for women, though it most certainly will be. And it’s not just the right thing to do, though it most certainly is.

An equitable world is better for all. And who knows, in five years’ time, maybe we’ll be celebrating Gender Equality Day.

Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz is a non-executive director and president of Chief Executive Women.