Our commitments to gender equality #IWD2020

International Women’s Day 2020 is a moment for everyone to celebrate and highlight women and girls across the world. At Satalia, we are committed to Diversity and Inclusion and making incremental steps to make our culture one where men and women can thrive. Taking a stand and showing our commitment to IWD2020, we have asked the men of Satalia to share their commitment to #EachforEqual. In a world of gender equality, it is the collective responsibility of everyone to build the world we imagine.

 

 

Jai Clarke-Binns — People & Culture Partner

 

In working to achieve gender equality, I need to ensure that I actively listen and acknowledge the hurdles faced by all women. How I practice active listening is by tuning out my internal dialogue and asking questions where appropriate. My role is to listen without judgement or challenge; it is to acknowledge without invalidating their experiences. My last action is to ask how I can support; my role is not to believe I can empower or save but rather to be an advocate if necessary.

 

Yohann Pitrey — Technical Consultant

 

There are two ways in which I think I can support humankind in building a gender-equal society. First, I want to become more aware of all the tailwinds that have made my path through life as a man easier, as well as all the headwinds that have made the same path more difficult for women around me. I will use that awareness to not only call out the unjust treatment of women, but also call out examples in which men fail to see how privileged we have been all our lives. Second, I want to actively seek ways in which I can counteract the unjustified favouritism I have been granted for being a man.

 

I am happy to take a pay cut so that my female colleagues are paid fairly. I am happy for my career progression to slow down so that women in the company are given the same opportunities as I am. More broadly, I am happy and eager for things to become less comfortable for myself so that they can become more comfortable for women.

 

Riccardo Volpato — Data Scientist

 

As an engineer, I am aware that our cultural biases can cause us to subconsciously attribute more weight to men’s opinions and inputs in engineering work. My commitment to #EachforEqual is to advocate for equal gender representation in the technical teams I am involved with and to proactively ask my peers if they feel free to share their opinion and whether it is acknowledged and taken into account. Whenever this does not happen, I commit to making my team aware of the issue, help the team change as a collective and make sure everyone feels represented, acknowledged and empowered to share the design and development of solutions.

 

Mark Gillespie — CFO

 

Many professions are dominated by one gender or another. I work in finance, which has historically been a profession with a higher frequency of senior men than senior women. There are many reasons for this. However, to the extent that capable women feel unable to participate and progress within the profession, there are economic and social losses.

 

One contribution to this imbalance is that the gender mix on entry to the profession can reflect the gender distribution of the higher and further education courses that are typically considered a prerequisite when recruiting. The gender balance then skews further if parental leave policies are ineffective.

 

In an effort to solve at least one of these issues, ahead of a more even gender distribution within certain educational courses, I will consider whether training can be used as means to recruit from an even more diverse background for our future finance needs.

 

Photo by Matt Popovich on Unsplash

A handful of the men at Satalia have shared how they are going to support a gender-equal society. We are interested to know what are you going to do? Feel free to share your ideas and commitments in the comments. Together we can build a more just society for all. #EachforEqual

 

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