International Women’s Day 2022: Women changing the world

This year’s International Women’s Day is centred around breaking the bias, and these successful women have certainly done that.

International Women’s Day (IWD) has been celebrated for hundreds of years in countries around the world, marking the achievements of women and also serving as recognition in supporting and taking action against gender equality. This year, the Euro Weekly News has taken a look at some of the most successful women who have broken the “glass ceiling”.

According to UIS data, less than 30 per cent of the world’s researchers are women, however, throughout the centuries, women have been incredibly influential in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Take Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE, for example, a once space-obsessed dyslexic schoolgirl who became one of the top scientists and BBC presenter who now encourages young girls into STEM – changing the stereotype of scientists and TV personalities from being white and male.

Although the majority of people have heard of the publication The Huffington Post, very few people know that the driving force behind it was very successful female entrepreneur Ariana Huffington. Huffington not only built the company herself but also proved that she was able to successfully sell the company to AOL for around $315 million. Even after selling the company, Huffington still has a big role in the daily operations.

The saying goes “behind every successful man, there is a woman” and Sheryl Sandberg – the true founder of Facebook – is a great example of this. Often thought of as a man’s realm, Sandberg’s main focus was to generate revenue and help Facebook to become profitable. Her work helped the $100 billion company valuation.

In politics, Labour MP Stella Creasy was recently denied maternity leave and also told to leave the Commons when she brought her sleeping baby into the chambers, causing uproar from fellow females. Together with the charity Pregnant then Screwed, Creasy is spearheading the This Mum Votes project to champion policies to help parents in all workplaces and to fund mothers to stand for office to argue for them – making the world of work a better place for women.

With many women forging ahead to end inequality, gender bias and the gender pay gap, International Women’s Day is a great way to get involved and learn how you can change the world for women for the better.

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