Scaling Up Aspirations: Vision for Gender Equality on International Women's Day and Beyond

On this International Women's Day, I am reflecting on the collective vision we aspire to—a world where both women and men are acknowledged as full citizens and secure in the knowledge that they truly count. I thought of the profound words of Rosabeth Moss Kanter: 

"A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more." 

As we gather worldwide to celebrate this day, it's crucial to remember that our goals stretch far beyond this one day. We must aspire to elevate society to greater heights daily. 

This year's theme for International Women's Day, #InspiringInclusion, also brought to mind a personal belief I originally shared on the InspiringFifty SA platform in 2019; I'll share it again: 

"To realise the full promise of inclusion, diversity, and intersectionality in technology, we must actively create conditions and environments where women can thrive in spaces traditionally not open to them. This is especially crucial for women and girls from previously excluded and marginalised groups.

 Achieving inclusion is a numbers game; token increases in participation are not enough. We need a critical mass of women in technology and innovation, creating a chorus of new voices and perspectives too loud to be ignored. This will signal to other women and girls that the door is open for them to make their mark on the future." 

As we celebrate today, we should also take stock of the numbers—not just in technology but in all sectors—climate, finance, manufacturing—everywhere. Have we reached a critical mass of women? Are we hearing new voices? If not, why not? 

Because I love to anchor everything in a great book, let me go here. Why this obsession with numbers? In her seminal work, "Men and Women of the Corporation" (1977), Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a distinguished professor at Harvard Business School, introduces the concept of "tokenism." She describes the unique challenges faced by those in the minority within their workplaces, such as women in predominantly male environments. These challenges include heightened visibility, leading to performance pressures and stereotyping etc. Hence my belief that for inclusion to be effective, we must implement it on a large scale beyond tokenism. 

How do we scale our aspirations for equality? I think we know the answers - but it bears repeating. To achieve this vision of an inclusive world where men and women are equal citizens, we need to continue to push the envelope on several fronts:

📜 Legal Equality: Essential for protecting rights and ensuring justice for all.

💰Economic Empowerment: Since capital drives power dynamics, levelling the financial playing field is crucial, from basic financial inclusion to advancing digital inclusion, equal pay and wealth building. 

🌈 Embracing Diversity: Welcoming 'unusual suspects' enriches society with varied perspectives. This movement needs to extend to women across the career stage, age and income spectrum.

📚 Education for All:  Access to skills and knowledge opens doors to empowerment and increases resilience.

 🏥 Universal Health Access: A cornerstone for well-being and agency, allowing full societal participation with vitality.

Global, regional, and local efforts, such as the UN, legislative reforms, STEM education for girls, gender lens investing, grassroots economic initiatives, and leadership engagement, are paving the path forward. In this, I celebrate the many bright lights in my network who are doing beautiful work to open doors to more women in their respective spheres of influence: Marcia Ashong-Sam, MCIArb , Rachel Nyaradzo Adams , Ellen Fischat , Coralie Lolliot , Valérie Neim Tracey Turner Dr. Naike Moshi , Kai Maembe , Zandile Mkwanazi , Sophie Sirtaine , Maryanne Ochola , Debbie Goodman Anthea Hartzenberg , Antonique Koning , Maureen Ogbonna , Shinjini Kumar , Barbara Magnoni , Estelle Dogbo Linda Davis, PhD , Titianne Donde . . . - and suddenly I realise that this list is too long to even begin to cover one blog so I'll stop there (sorry if I did not get to you). But suffice it to say there are many people whose work to create tangible, authentic inclusion inspires me.

In closing, while progress towards gender equality is evident, the journey of ongoing, continuous adaptation fueled by new data remains vital. Let's keep our eyes trained on the vision, elevating our society to greater heights by leaving no one behind. 

Happy International Women's Day! 

#InspireInclusion #GenderEquality #InclusiveWorld #ActionForEquality #IWD2024

About the Author:

Buhle Goslar is a fintech entrepreneur focused on building and supporting technology solutions for consumer empowerment, financial resilience, and inclusive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.

She is the Chairperson and Independent Non-Executive Director at Lula, the South African SME digital bank. Buhle serves as a Board Director at e-commerce company Copia Global, the World Bank's financial inclusion think tank CGAP, the Agri-catalytic capital platform Aceli Africa, and the gender equity network WIMA. She is also the former Africa CEO of JUMO, a Banking-as-a-service platform.

Opinions are her own.