Principal's Update

International Women's Day is a day that celebrates the significant achievements of women around the world - social, economic, cultural and political. It is also a call to action, reminding us all, both women and men, of the need to continue to work towards achieving gender equality.

While progress has been made in narrowing the gender gap with programs designed to target major issues like access to education, access to health care and equal pay, gender inequality remains an important issue both here in Australia and around the world.

Here are a few global statistics….

Less than 40% of countries provide girls with equal access to education as boys
2/3 of the world’s illiterate adults are women
Women, on average, earn 25-40% less than men who do the same job
Women are underrepresented in scientific and technological disciplines. Only 29% of the world’s researchers are women
Women make up just 23% of people in national parliaments

Women are also significantly underrepresented in senior management or leadership roles in organisations. In Australia, less than 10% of these senior roles are held by women. This is despite the fact that more women are graduating from university than are men.

Women are also underrepresented in politics with only 24% of our Government Ministers being women. Of the thirty prime ministers of Australia, only one, Julia Gillard, was female. Our politicians make decisions on a daily basis that impact the lives of both male and female Australians, yet those making the decisions are predominantly male.

It is important that women’s voices are heard when it comes to deciding policies and programs that will impact on their rights, their wellbeing and other aspects of their lives.

The progress we’ve seen in women’s sports in Australia, particularly in the area of AFL and cricket in the last few years, is a great example of how people, both men and women, can bring about positive change. The rate of change that we have seen in sport in Australia indicates that the momentum for creating a gender-balanced world is definitely growing and that’s worth celebrating!

At Kilbreda, we encourage our students to be women of strength, always believe in their own abilities rather than limit themselves, to follow their dreams and aspirations, whatever they may be and to encourage, support and empower other females to do the same.