Charter of the United Nations declared gender equality as a fundamental human right and the UN’s subsequent Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1979 has accompanied a seismic change in attitudes (and indeed the law) in all UN member states where women now have the same rights as men. However, statistics show
that in reality, total gender equality is still some way off.
Across the EU, while
women in work has increased in recent years from 52% to 59%, it’s estimated that women continue to earn an average of nearly 18% less than men. And it appears that a glass ceiling still remains –
STATISTICS SHOW THAT IN REALITY, TOTAL GENDER EQUALITY IS STILL SOME WAY OFF
according to recent figures, just 14% of the FTSE 100 board directors are women. One of the main problems
that need addressing, according to Anjali Bhardwaj of Women in Technology, is how to deal with the career break that women often take to have children. “When a woman returns to work after having a child, she sometimes has to retrain,” Bhardwaj explains. “She might take a step back after the break and may find she can’t get back into
Graduate Insight
Mariwi Zegarra
A graduate of the Universidad del Pacifico in Lima, Peru, Mariwi Zegarra
Graduate Insight
Julia Freudenber
Julia Freudenber, a key account manager at Unilever in Hamburg, is a full-time