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2019 can – and should – be the ‘Year of Women’ in Jersey, according to two local businesswomen behind a new network dedicated to promoting diversity and equality in the island.
Kate Wright and Sam Duffy founded the Diversity Network (TDN) in January last year, and have since then been working to make the local business community in particular a more accessible, fair and inclusive place.
Amid their work, they’ve noticed a global “shift” picking up pace with increased conversations globally about the gender pay gap, #MeToo and heightened awareness of women’s rights.
“We are seeing the shift across the arts, entertainment, sport and business. Clearly Jersey is not immune,” they explained. It’s for that reason the pair believe 2019 can be the ‘Year of Women’ in Jersey, as they told Express...
July will see the centenary of some women finally receiving the right to vote, and, quite rightly, there are plans to celebrate in style! It will provide an opportunity to reflect on how far women have come – and how much further we still need to go.
With the support of action group Women in Politics, we will be able to build on the progress made in last year’s elections, which saw more women standing for office than ever and the two highest candidates receiving the most votes both being women. Let’s hope we have a strong woman willing to stand for Chief Minister at some point in the near future.
Pictured: Senators Tracey Vallois and Kristina Moore topped the polls in the last election.
One of the most significant barriers to equality for women in Jersey is our archaic tax law preventing married women from being responsible for their own tax affairs (we still find it hard to believe we are writing that sentence in 2019!). Thanks to a social media backlash and strong pushback from some politicians, the halfway compromise offered by the Treasury has been recognised as insufficient and we have been promised change sooner. We very much hope this means in 2019!
We will also host the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians in September. This is a fantastic opportunity to not only showcase to the rest of the world the fantastic island in which we live, but also our positive work towards achieving a truly inclusive society for all citizens.
Following some very disappointing gender pay gap statistics released by the island’s biggest employer, the States of Jersey, we have seen a strong campaign led by The States Diversity Group. This is shining a light on barriers to women in business across the whole business community. The ensuing public debate and pressure on local businesses to look at how successfully women are able to progress to senior levels have been significant, and the recognition that many working cultures need to change is growing.
Pictured: The founders of the Diversity Network say that women are increasingly staking their claim to senior business roles in the island.
This is reflected in the number of diversity-related business groups that formed or grew in 2018, including Lean In, Women in Tech, Diversity in Change and our own venture. These groups have been working hard to highlight the business case for diversity and inclusion in order to bring about real change.
Due to the positive reception we have received, TDN are delighted in 2019 to be able to expand their support for organisations that really want to increase the diversity of their Boards and workforces. We are particularly proud of ‘Her Talent’, a personal development programme designed to help working women break down barriers to success and achieve balance between work and home life. As far as we are aware, it is the first of its kind in Jersey, and we are very excited about its potential impact for women in business!
Several local action groups will all be focussing on social mobility as a serious issue that needs urgent action in Jersey in 2019.
TDN will be focusing on what businesses can do to attract and retain a more diverse workforce, while Women in Politics, Soroptimists International and Jersey Community Relations Trust will particularly focus on women marginalised in Jersey society. What will be really powerful is to see government, education, business and community groups working closely together to achieve similar aims for the good of everyone.
The UK and Jersey’s productivity levels are in a slump and, with the threat of Brexit on the horizon, radical change is needed to kick-start the economy and fend off further decline.
Interestingly a suggestion in a recent report noted: "If women participated in the British economy as much as men, it could add £600billion to UK GDP in 2025. More realistically, if each region were to add women to the workforce at the fastest pace it achieved during the past decade, then the United Kingdom would add £150 billion to its GDP in 2025.”
Pictured: A recent report stated that economic equality of the sexes could bring in £600billion to the UK GDP in 2025.
The big question, of course, is how do we do this? There is no silver bullet, but clever people are putting their money on closing the gender pay gap, increasing female participation in key sectors of the economy, increasing the number of female hours worked, moving women into more productive sectors.
Achieving this is an enormous challenge, but definitely doable.
It would require looking at policies like flexible working schemes, child care, and “returnships” to help women return to work after time away. All of these options are achievable in Jersey.
While there are some promising signs that things are heading in the right direction, we need to keep our foot to the pedal and eyes on the road!
As Lucy Stone, the leading US suffragist, once said: “Now all we need is to continue to speak the truth fearlessly, and we shall add to our number those who will turn the scale to the side of equal and full justice in all things.”
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