Written by Nicki Couzens, Relationships Partner, Active Partnerships National Team
Tomorrow is International Women’s Day so hopefully your social media feeds will be full of the amazing and inspiring stores of the role that women are playing to help break down barriers, enabling more women to benefit from the physically and emotional wellbeing benefits that being active brings.
As well as a celebration of the role women are playing, it is also a time to reflect on the campaign theme of #EmbraceEquity and to get people talking about Why equal opportunities aren't enough.
For me equity is ensuring everyone gets what they need, understanding their barriers, local situation and circumstances. Equality is when everyone gets the same, regardless of if it is right for them or needed. We all start from different places, so to be truly inclusive requires equitable action.
There are many images used to illustrate these definitions but below is one that really resonates and was really shared by GreaterSport.
When reflecting on the role that I personally and the Active Partnerships network can play, it always comes back to the so what question? We must not just write about it, or it be something we say, we need to ensure that it is embedded into our thinking and values if we truly want to make a change.
This has led me to thinking about the role of male colleagues and the role that can play as stepping up as allies. All the conversations i am involved in around around how we can support women to be active or increase the female workforce involve a female dominated audience. A recent call around menopause really brought this home to me when the only male colleague in attendance asked if people were happy for him to be involved in the conversation. It made me challenge my assumptions that I thought everyone knew they would be welcome in all conversations and understood the value they could bring. This made me realise this may not be the case and therefore the question is what role do I and others have in ensuring we are more explicit in welcoming everyone into these conversations.
We need everyone to recognise the challenges and biases that women continue to face, whether it relates to getting active or through a workforce lens. We have a focus on tackling inequalities, and everyone needs to have an understanding of how working with others, we can build an environment to ensure everyone can be active and succeed in their chosen field.
This also translate into our workplaces. Whilst maternity policies have been in place for a long time it is now brilliant to see policies covering topics such as the menopause are becoming more the norm as well as support groups within organisations where people can offer peer support to each other. It is our responsibility to reflect on how we can build on this across the sector and ensure women of all ages, at all stages of their career are able to thrive.
So, the question to myself and colleagues is, do we need to get more male colleagues involved in our conversations around females’ involvement in the sector, so they can amplify women voices and truly #EmbraceEquity? And if so, how do we do this?