IWD 2023: #Embrace Equity

It’s International Women’s Day!

Every year, the 8th of March shines a light on developments and injustices regarding a gender equal world. The day celebrates all women and allies and is often also referred to as “Feminist Fightday” to ensure inclusivity. We are fighting for a world without bias, stereotypes and discrimination and instead filled with diversity, acceptance and equity for all genders. This year’s theme is #EmbraceEquity

What does equity mean?

First of all it is important to not confuse it with equality. Both are important in their own way, but completely different concepts; they are not synonyms. The campaign theme was chosen to raise awareness of the difference and highlight the importance of understanding, acknowledging and valuing it.

Equality is defined as “the state or quality of being equal; correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank, or ability.”

Three kids and three pears, one for each child can be defined as equality: They all have exactly the same amount of the exact same items.

Equity is defined as “the quality of being fair or impartial; fairness; impartiality” or “something that is fair and just.” Equity is more complicated than equality.

To stay with the above example: Three kids, but one of them is allergic to pears, so two of them receive a pears and one receives an apple is equity.

(Source & more info here.)

 

We’ve asked some of the brilliant women working for us on their thoughts about equity and equality in a business context, and would like to introduce you to three of them!

• Mandy, Finance Manager, has been with Halian for 6 years and leads a team of 6 employees. In the future she would like to take work even more independently and give her team and herself the opportunity for further development. Trust and appreciation are essential for her. When it comes to equality and equity, the most important thing to her is: “that I get the same opportunities as my colleagues, regardless of where we come from, gender and age.” Her tip for more assertiveness: “Talk, talk, talk… Communication is the key. Dare to address things and sometimes ask questions that might be uncomfortable.”
• Laura, who asserts herself through quality, expertise and professionalism, has been with us for 2 years and leads the Baden-Württemberg team. She says: “I am very career-oriented and it motivates me to get ahead in my job. Our career model makes this possible and gives me the opportunity to walk my own path, finding my passions.” #EmbraceEquity plays a big role for her in the work context: “For me it starts with Equal Pay. Unfortunately, it is still the case that on average women earn significantly less than men with the same qualifications. It’s important to me that I work in a company where every woman has the same opportunities to grow in her career and promotions are given based on qualifications and not gender. It’s also important to me that women know their worth and don’t undersell themselves as a result. I don’t want to stand out because of my gender, but because of my good work. It is therefore important to me to achieve my goals in order to be a role model for other women.“
• Leonie started with us two years ago as a working student and then joined us full-time as Recruitment Consultant! “Right now I’m still at the beginning of my career and working towards my next promotion. I particularly like the fact that I have a motivated team (actually mostly made up of powerful women) that supports me in my professional career goals and has my back during any setbacks.” On the topic of #Embrace Equality, she says: “I think it’s great that Halian already has equal career opportunities and salaries for men and women. My career and my success depend only on me and my performance and not on my gender.”

We are incredibly proud of the strong force of brilliant women we are able to call our colleagues. Thank you for your hard work and dedication! We got you.