Held every year on March 8th, International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
International Women’s Day (IWD) is one of the most important days of the year to educate and raise awareness for women’s equality, call for positive change advancing women and to lobby for accelerated gender parity. Every year, the IWD movement shares a different campaign theme, with ‘embrace equity’ being the theme for IWD 2023.
To celebrate, Incrementalists were invited together (both virtually via Teams and in-person in our Glasgow office) to ‘Striving for TECHquity’ – Incremental’s internal IWD. With over 60 attendees, the event opened with a brief history of IWD and defined the difference between equality and equity. To summarise:
- Equality: each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities.
- Equity: each person has different circumstances and is allocated the resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.
The ‘embrace equity’ theme was chimed in the expert panel session that then took place – with senior stakeholders in the business taking questions from the audience on a range of topics from mentorship and leadership to gender bias and diversity in the workplace.
Panellists included: Mel Johnstone (Senior Talent Acquisition Partner), Mark Skelton (CEO), Kerry Orr (Head of Dynamics Business Central) and Rebecca Court (Head of Marketing). Speaking of the event, Rebecca commented, “I was thrilled to join Incremental’s Striving for TECHquity panel alongside such talented and inspiring panellists that I am proud to call colleagues. International Women’s Day serves as an important reminder that equity and diversity are more than just corporate buzzwords, they are the essential building blocks for an excellent company that better serves its people, communities and customers. I am already excited to develop many of the valid topics of conversation that were raised by Incrementalists throughout the session.”
Each panellist brought a unique perspective and shared their personal stories of overcoming challenges and breaking barriers in the tech industry. The discussion was insightful and engaging, with the speakers providing valuable advice and actionable steps for women who aspire to succeed in tech (as well as how men can act as allies).
Following the expert panel session, Incrementalists continued celebrations with a tutored Pickerings Gin tasting experience with Summerhall Distillery, where they had the chance to taste a selection of flavoured gins. See video highlights from the event, below.
Incremental is committed to encouraging diversity amongst its people, with employees having the responsibility not to discriminate against fellow employees, customers or suppliers. For more information on Incremental’s diversity, equality and inclusion policies, click here.