The world continues to shift when it comes to women’s equality, and there is good reason to feel immense pride when looking at how things have changed for the better for women.
“Worldwide, women are more educated today than at any point in history, and gender gaps between women’s and men’s academic attainments are rare in countries with high levels of educational achievement.
In fact, women in some 50 countries on average have achieved a higher level of education than men have, and in others, they live longer and are healthier,” according to the National Intelligence Council’s Strategic Futures Group via the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
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The purpose of International Women’s Day (IWD), on March 8 every year, is to raise awareness about discrimination and to drive gender parity. The 2025 IWD theme is Accelerate Action to create a more inclusive world for women.
While women have made inroads in the fight for equality, there is still work to be done.
Here are three areas that are key to economic equality for women:
1. Financial access
A woman's household decision-making power increases when she has access to finance services and some power over how money gets spent.
“In 2021, 78% of men had a financial account compared to 74% of women,” according to the Global Findex Database 2021 overseen by the World Bank. “In developing economies, the gap is larger, with 74% of men having an account compared to 68% of women.”
Financial inclusion allows women to have opportunities such as getting a loan, starting a business and building credit. This also includes access to retirement planning, estate planning, tax preparation and financial aid for education.
One way to promote financial access is by improving financial literacy with regards to digital skills, to ensure women and girls know how to use technology to access the services above.
Without access, a woman can’t improve her finances and deal with financial setbacks such as illness, unexpected bills or employment issues.
Most importantly, a woman who has no access to financial services is less likely to have the ability to get out of situations where she also has no power.
2. Entrepreneurship
The pool of female entrepreneurs is impressive. According to Wells Fargo’s 2024 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses, women own more than 14 million businesses, which represents 39% of all businesses.
Business owners and executives can keep those numbers growing by offering mentorship opportunities for aspiring female business owners and leaders.
Mentorships provide an expert source of guidance, knowledge and encouragement as women get started on a career, helping them to achieve their goals, build skills, increase confidence and learn how to deal with career challenges.
The Harvard Business Review reports that “75% of executives credit their success to mentors, and recent research shows that 90% of employees with a career mentor are happy at work.”
Other ways business owners, executives and companies can support female entrepreneurship:
- Highlight business leaders on social media
- Offer networking events
- Work with other women on entrepreneurship opportunities
Women also need to advocate for themselves to move their professional goals forward.
3. Fighting discrimination
Women sometimes face exclusion from the workplace based on their gender, race, ethnicity, age, religion, sexual orientation and class.
According to Pew Research, “Women are roughly four times as likely as men to say they have been treated as if they were not competent because of their gender (23% of employed women vs 6% of men), and they are about three times as likely as men to say they have experienced repeated small slights at work because of their gender (16% vs 5%).”
As a society, we can help end discrimination by advocating for equal access to education, empowering women in the workforce, protecting reproductive rights, providing better medical care, lifting up those who are most marginalized, vocalizing the need to strengthen legal protections and encouraging better political and leadership representation.
Here are some key areas of focus that can help advance gender equality more quickly, according to the International Women’s Day website:
- Enforce and strengthen laws that promote gender equality, such as equal pay, reproductive rights and protection against gender-based violence
- Make sure that existing laws are fully implemented
- Support inclusive policies in key sectors such as education, healthcare and the workforce
- Ensure women's representation in decision-making processes
Let’s roll up our sleeves and continue the work to keep moving women forward.
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