General newsMonday, March 8, 2021

IGS chooses to challenge for International Women’s Day 2021

Each year, people come together across the globe to set aside a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. We mark the 8th of March in our calendars as International Women’s Day, we schedule events and social content, we share the stories of inspirational women and we pledge to take steps towards achieving gender parity.

International Women’s Day is just one day, however: we can’t afford to be complacent or keep quiet on every other day of the year. Despite huge strides having been made in recent years, according to data collated by the World Economic Forum, gender parity will not be attained for almost a century.

That is why the chosen theme for International Women’s Day2021 is #ChooseToChallenge.

At IGS, we are committed to consciously choosing each day to challenge the status quo and drive positive action. From challenge comes change.

In no way have we got this perfect yet, but we’re determined to keep making positive movements to embrace diversity and drive equal opportunities. A diverse workforce is one that is filled with creativity, innovation and passion, and that is the culture we aspire to create at IGS.

Written by

Georgia Lea

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“I choose to challenge because as an engineer I believe more diversity leads to more creativity.”

Juliette Goddard, Mechanical Design Engineer

“I choose to challenge because we need women’s skills and insights at ALL levels in the workplace.”

Polly Purvis OBE, Director of ScotFIN

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“I choose to challenge because I think women should always support other women and because inequality is still a major problem in some countries around the world.”

Lucie Opltova, HR Advisor/Senior Administrator

“I choose to challenge because encouraging challenge breeds genuine innovation across our business.”

Gayle Reid, Team Lead/Scrum Master

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"I choose to challenge gender stereotypes and encourage constructive challenges from all."

Kathleen Honeyman, Global Projects Director

“I choose to challenge to address imbalance.”

Kate Forster, Head of Communications

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“I choose to challenge because we need to celebrate women's achievements and drive positive change in gender balance both in the workplace and our everyday lives.”

Valerie Lederer, Marketing Manager, Intelligent Grid

“I choose to challenge because everyone deserves the chance to achieve their full potential.”

Georgia Lea, Communications Manager

woman holding hand up near face and smiling