March 8 is International Women’s Day. This is a day when we celebrate the achievements and contributions of women, and we also look at areas where women still face discrimination or oppression.
We all know the history and the struggle, and we wonder… what are women facing today? In the business world there has been a lot of progress, and the glass ceiling is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Progress is being made in the STEM arena and we appreciate that. Also we’ve looked at the top position in Fortune 500 companies and there is improvement there too. But, around the world there are still more severe battles to be fought with regard to education and there are areas of the world where oppression is the norm.
The Biggest Challenge
An article in Politico magazine asked a group of women lawmakers and presidential candidates what they see as the biggest challenge facing women in the US, and internationally. We’ll look at two responses.
Answer #1: “One of the struggles that underlies all of our policy battles is the continued lack of women in positions of power. From corporate boardrooms, to the courts and political leadership around the world, the lack of women in senior positions continues to stymie progress on issues from pay to humanitarian aid to discrimination in all its forms. The sooner we understand that the lack of women in leadership roles holds back not only women, but all people, the sooner we will be able to advance society as a whole.”
Answer #2: Women in the world, particularly in developing and middle-income countries, face the far more elemental problem of still being considered property. Saudi Arabia’s system, for one, is open about this relationship, requiring women to get the permission of their male “guardian” to enroll in school, travel or take a job. But in many countries, women are still forced to be legally and socially subservient to men, with no means of gaining financial or social independence, much less equal agency. A global women’s movement must thus focus on creating legal and social conditions in which women and men have equal access to nutrition, health care, education, jobs and the ability to control their bodies and choose a mate. We will be making progress when parents around the world greet the birth of a girl with equal pleasure and expectation as the birth of a boy.”
The world of Business
In the world of business, there is a measure that tells a lot. Here is the headline from a January 2023 issue of Forbes Magazine: Women CEOs run more than 10% of Fortune 500 companies for the first time in history. Women have made great progress in the business world, and there are many companies where women hold CEO, President, CFO and other executive positions, but the Fortune 500 representation lets us know there is significantly more to achieve. Here’s a paragraph from the article:
“It’s fair to ask whether it’s worth celebrating a meager 2% difference, especially when it also makes clear how far we still have to go for equal representation (almost five times where we’re at today). Yet, these victories, however small, do matter. After all, the biggest leaps require innumerable small steps to make them possible. So before rolling up our sleeves and getting back to work, let’s take a moment to recognize how far we’ve come by celebrating some of the history-making women who brought us over the 10% line.” To read the stories click HERE.
How is AMS Doing
One might ask… how is AMS Fulfillment doing with regard to women in top management? We can brag a little about that as we have a very balanced and strong representation. Last July we began a blog series called “Women in Management.” In that blog series we interviewed ten of AMS’ women in management.
Our first interview was with someone the entire company loves and respects, Betty-Lou Wiseman, President of AMS West. You can enjoy that interview HERE. We also did a great interview with AMS CFO Bobbie Booher, click HERE, and another fun interview with Dori Bornstein, Human Resources Manager for AMS East, HERE. All ten of the interviews are available at this LINK. The featured image for this International Women’s Day blog is of the latest woman to join the AMS team, Sarah Smith, VP of Marketing. Enjoy her interview HERE.
The International Picture
What can be done to be of help to women of the world? This question is discussed at the United Nations under the theme of “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”.
The UN website explains, “This theme is aligned with the priority theme for the upcoming 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW-67), ‘Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls’.” We encourage you to visit the website HERE and read about what the UN is doing to support the women of the world.
We close with a salute to all of the women of the world on this International Women’s Day, March 8, 2023. It has been a long journey, and we still have a way to go, but oh the victories!!