Breaking the bias: fighting gender stereotypes

When thinking about International Women’s Day this year my mind immediately turned to my daughter, Izzy. She has just become a teenager and is starting to find her place in the world so, from a personal perspective, doing whatever we need to do to create a world where she and her peers can grow up into that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive is particularly important right now.

I chose this picture as, whilst it was taken a while ago, rugby remains one of our shared passions (she plays and I coach!). It was also used in various RFU Kids First publications and was even the RFU’s Kids First Twitter banner for a while - which felt like a good step for girls rugby at the time. It is fantastic that Izzy and her teammates are growing up in a time where women’s and girls’ rugby is thriving, is well supported by the RFU and is increasingly visible on television. Better still, players such as Poppy and Bryony Cleall and Alicia Muade are amazing role models, playing for England on the pitch and remaining hugely supportive of grass roots rugby, regularly returning to the clubs where they played as juniors to help coach the girls and/or support end of season awards etc. However, as with all areas of diversity and inclusion, we all need to keep working together to keep progressing.

Just as importantly, at Mazars and at home, I see, on a daily basis, that being a great mum is no barrier to being an integral member of the team, who is highly valued by colleagues and each of whom are key to various important client / other relationships they have developed throughout their careers. This further highlights the importance for us as a firm (and a society) to ensure we find ways to support and continue to develop all team members as they progress through their careers and at the various stages of the family lifecycle. 

So, for these reasons in particular, I will help forge a gender-equal world in which everyone can pursue their passions without bias, stereotypes, or discrimination

International Women's Day