International Women's Day 2023: Head of DEI Dana James-Edwards

Replies to companies’ LinkedIn posts shared anecdotes alongside excerpts from internal memos and policies that evidenced women being unfavourably treated, disadvantaged and discriminated against at work. While that was going on, The  Gender Paygap Bot was busy on Twitter auto-responding to all companies who tweeted about IWD and had publicly available gender pay gap information with their own pay gap statistics. There was egg on lots of faces and statements of “Yes we can and will do better” were being issued so quickly in succession that I could barely keep up. The scrambling happening behind the scenes to fix or change the narrative, was almost tangible. 

It’s clear that the state of gender equality for all is still a goal that we’re working towards. And I support initiatives to bring about more dialogue on the reality of women’s experiences at work and to hold companies accountable for those. But the answer doesn’t lie in fixing the narrative, making social media posts that withstand scrutiny, or bolstering defences by having statements pre-prepared. The answer lies in  making continuous and sustained change that means women have ease of opportunity and access to thrive at work. 

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is “Embracing Equity”. Not equality, no - equity. The word choice is deliberate and the distinction is important. As I mentioned above, gender equality is a goal we are working towards where all genders have the same ease of access to resources and opportunities – it’s a destination we want to get to. Gender equity is the steps and measures we take to get there. Embracing equity requires us to firstly acknowledge that there have been historical wrongs that have left women behind, and then take action to redress those wrongs by giving women the tools to succeed. Gender equity is a ultimately a needs-based approach, where we invest in genders that have disadvantaged over time and simultaneously work to change organisational and societal cultures to be more supportive of women.  

At Kubrick we’re also on a journey and we still have work to do. While our gender pay gap across our Consultant group is zero, there is more we can do to get closer to that ideal for our HQ staff when it comes both to salary and bonuses. But gender pay gap doesn’t tell the entirety of the story of an organisation’s commitment to equity. Here are 3 things I’m especially proud that Kubrick is delivering on to promote gender equity:

1.Launching a Women’s Network
Kubrick’s Women’s Network launches at the end of this month in direct response to the team’s feedback in our last DEI survey and subsequent focus groups. Membership of the Women’s Network at Kubrick is open to all members of our team, including allies because it takes all of us working together to achieve gender equality. However, there will be some events reserved for women and non-binary members of the team so we can create the safety needed for open and honest discussion about issues women face at work and in wider society and how to overcome them. 

2.Working at both the micro and macro levels
At Kubrick we know that the fight for equity can lie in the little things – like having free menstrual products available in the office or hosting a bake sale to raise funds for those living with endometriosis. But we also know that for change to become part of an organisation’s culture it often needs to be codified. We are proud of our policies that aim to support women at work through all of life’s stages, like our Flexible Working, Parental, IVF and Menopause policies. We also regularly review these policies to ensure that we are doing all that we can through them to promote gender equity.

3.Supporting the next generation
At Kubrick we are very proud of our partnership with Women in Data because it allows us to connect with women and those who identify as gender non-binary across the industry and listen, learn, and share in order to improve the experiences of those transforming businesses through data. We also work to grow and inspire the next generation of female and gender non-binary data and technology experts through events and partnerships like Young Data Minds which introduces students to real-world data challenges and inspirational data professionals and also Black Girls in Tech an organisation that motivates and encourages Black girls to pursue a career in technology. We are always on the lookout for opportunities to invest in the careers and development of women in technology.

If you’re interested in learning more about gender equity, please check out our Diversifying Data podcast. We have a special episode in honour of International Women’s Day, where host and Senior Account Manager at Kubrick Rakhi Sharma, Kubrick Advanced Squad Lead Hazel Chesters and I get together to discuss not just what gender equity is but why it’s needed and what it looks like in practice.