Lok Jack GSB Celebrates International Women’s Day 2023

Lok Jack GSB Celebrates International Women’s Day 2023

News& Views

Lok Jack GSB Celebrates International Women’s Day 2023

For 2023 International Women’s Day, Lok Jack GSB features some of our amazing female employees across the organization.

Click the names below to hear what our staff think about the 2023 theme of Equity and learn more about International Women’s Day here: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

Stacy Maharaj Siew

Graduate Admissions Advisor

What does equity mean to you?

For me Equity is about valuing people and their contributions without being influenced by preconceived notions of what each of us can achieve. It means, recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and adjust imbalances.

Give us examples of how you embrace equity.

Throughout my professional and personal life being fair, allowing colleagues and staff to share their opinions and not only listening to them but also responding to their suggestions, their perspectives, and ideas, has always been of utmost importance. I believe this approach is critical to achieve and maintain a healthy and inclusive working environment.

Why is equity important, especially for women?

As a working woman today, I have seen the imbalances and barriers that exist for women to progress. This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is timely and fitting, because Gender Equity means fairness of treatment for men and women, according to their respective needs. Critically ensuring that stereotypes such as “male dominated role” and the likes are removed from our vocabulary and workplace opportunities are accessible to ALL and not just limited to a specific gender.

Abagale Mitchell

Programe Support Officer, Bachelor of International and Sustainable Business

What does equity mean to you?

Equity is having access to opportunities and resources that fits individual needs to achieve equal results. It considers unique differences and circumstances that prevents all women from accessing equal opportunities

Give us examples of how you embrace equity.

I embrace equity by supporting women in leadership, entrepreneurship, single mothers and homemakers. Too often women don’t support each other, although we have different circumstances and opportunities, we have similar struggles in the workplace and home and having support systems provide us with coping mechanisms.

Why is equity important, especially for women?

Equity is important for women to gain recognition of our achievements beyond the maternal or marital status. It places women on an equal level with men and adapts services and policies to address women’s diverse differences. Women’s role as mother and/or spouse are sometimes perceived as a hindrance to advancement and promotion in the workplace and equity gives us a fair playing field. Our accomplishments shouldn’t be seen as an anomaly, i.e. “the first female…” but should be expected. Nevertheless, thanks to all women who have paved the way and the “firsts” waiting to make their impact.

Dr. Jan Sookram

Faculty and Programme Lead, Master of Small and Medium Enterprise Management

What does equity mean to you?

Equity is being fair and impartial, but it’s so much more to me. Equity is acknowledging the output or outcome from someone without seeing man or woman but SEEING a past, a journey, the scars and/or the stripes being carried and truly appreciating the process of how that output came to be.

Give us examples of how you embrace equity.

One way that I have embraced equity is through diversity. We have been taught to respect diversity but not to appreciate it. Appreciating diversity is a discipline, one that you have to practice everyday. I challenge myself to do one thing everyday in a way that’s through another’s perspective. This pushes me to get out of my comfort zone, explore things through different lenses and more importantly, recognize that my way is not always the best way. It helps me to appreciate what others can bring to the table. We too often block what others can add because we cannot see beyond what we give. Being a mother has challenged me the most in this regard as my twin soon to be seven year old boys do everything differently from my normal. Because of them I have learnt that value can come from anyone in our lives; children, co-workers, spouses relatives and even strangers.

Why is equity important, especially for women?

Women have a lot of catching up to do. Not necessarily in the areas of competence, or strength or value or any of those things. I quite frankly believe that women are capable of so much more than the human race understands, but that’s just me. Women are filling board rooms and senior positions, heading successful companies. We are contributing

more to society in general; but, we still have these stigmas attached to a great extent. “ Women are too emotional, women cant manage employees well, women can’t be great leaders because we can’t detach and most un-impressive of all, a woman’s place is at home!”

Equity helps to create the space, whether forced or not, for women to leave their stamp. Equity helps women push harder to keep that space, break those stigmas and pave the way for other women to step up, take the mantle and plod on. Too often the difficulty for women comes not from men but from other women. Women do not support other women enough!. We are guarded of what we have accomplished and our struggle to get there. We need to break free of our own stigma that we have created for ourselves and forgive our past and how we have gotten where we have gotten. We need to say nicer things to women that are struggling or in general!. We need to acknowledge struggle when we see it and lend a helping hand or a caring word. This makes us stronger and not the opposite, but it also takes practice. 

Melissa De Four

Senior Programme Specialist

What does equity mean to you?

Equity to me, means that we all benefit from a level playing field. That we are not prejudiced towards each other’s differences. It means that I am given equal opportunities to contribute to the overall successes of my communities and society at large.

Give us examples of how you embrace equity.

Generally, I embrace equity by welcoming and treating all peoples with respect. I am also mindful that there can be innovative ways in doing things and I remain open to diverse perspectives. One of the ways I embrace equity in my household is by ensuring that my decision-making processes are inclusive.

Why is equity important, especially for women?

Equity is important because no one wants to feel or be left out. We want to be a part of something bigger and we deserve to make equal contributions in every aspect of our lives. Equity is important for women, because for decades we were confined to certain jobs, and household tasks, etc. Today, women have made invaluable contributions to the workplace, while still juggling household responsibilities. In my home there are no gender roles, we all do what is required for the effective running of our home.

Natthoya Baptiste

Consulting Project Manager

What does equity mean to you?

When I think of equity, fairness and justice come to mind. Let’s face it: in life the playing field isn’t always level. We all come from different places and have been afforded different opportunities…or not. Equity is meant to balance the scales by recognizing that “the system” is far from perfect, arising from inherent inequalities and biases. Equity seeks to address these, so that everyone has a chance to stand on more even footing. That being said, we must make a clear distinction between equality and equity. Equality means giving the same resources or opportunities to everyone, whereas equity recognizes that each person’s circumstances are different and therefore allocates specific resources to each person/group, so as to arrive at an equal outcome. The quest for equity is an ongoing, reiterative process which requires the dismantling of old structures and the careful reconstruction of novel, more equitable and practical measures.

Give us examples of how you embrace equity.

I believe that in order to truly embrace the concept of equity, we must be willing to acknowledge that inequity exists, and do our part to ensure that we are not creating or perpetuating it. Personally, I embrace equity by engaging in regular introspection which helps me to identify my own (conscious and unconscious) biases and unhealthy perceptions. I challenge myself to actively work on remedying these mindsets by adopting a more inclusive worldview, fuelled by an understanding of the disadvantages faced by individuals or groups. As an advocate, empathy is an indispensable skill. Walking a mile in the shoes of others helps me to identify the inequity they face and do what I can to explicitly address and rectify the imbalances. I genuinely believe that everyone deserves to have a voice.

Why is equity important, especially for women?

Women have historically been treated as inferior to men. Proponents of this worldview sought to bolster their misogynistic mentality with religion, tradition and societal expectations. It was believed that women needed to ‘know their place’ and thus were relegated to the role of homemaker or, if allowed to work outside of the home, were allocated lower end, non-decision making jobs.

From a gender equity context, sound strategies and measures are required to compensate for the historical and social disadvantages that women have suffered, that prevented them from operating on a level playing field with men. Where gender inequity exists, it is generally women who are excluded or disadvantaged with respect to opportunities, decision-making, and access to economic and social resources.

By and large, women have come a long way. We have proven that there is nothing that we cannot do. Think the suffragette movement/politics, scientific breakthroughs, and technological advancements. These were all traditionally male-dominated arenas in which women have skyrocketed in the past decades.

We have demonstrated that we can set this world on fire and keep it ablaze (in a good way, of course), with our passion, resilience and vision. We can be nurturers and homemakers, but also Boss Babes: top shelf women of influence and leadership, who support each other.

Notwithstanding these formidable strides, the work towards closing the gender equity gap continues. It is a well-known fact that even in this day and age, there are instances where many women are still being paid less than their male counterparts, even though they are performing the same duties. This is evident across the board, inter alia Hollywood, academia and in the corporate world etc. Barriers to equity present themselves in many forms, not just remuneration. True equity would ensure that women have access to the same treatment, opportunities, advancement and rewards that men do. Equity is important because it aims to identify and eliminate intentional and unintentional barriers, that prevent the full participation of women and other underrepresented groups, in all spheres of life.

Our journey continues.

Nicole Morain

Senior Conference Specialist

What does equity mean to you?

An environment where justice and fairness, a space where all can contribute and access opportunities regardless of the differences amongst us

Give us examples of how you embrace equity.

I tend to speak up when persons treat others unfairly, situations where equity and inclusion need to be promoted. I recocognise that each person may suffer different circumstances, so I embrace the opportunity to extend a hand to another who may need it, a loving nudge to get them going. As a mother, I include the opinion of my teenaged daughter in major decisions in the home, because it is important for her to feel a part the decisions that may impact her.

Why is equity important, especially for women?

If we can ever realise and enjoy gender equality, it will be through the continued promotion of equity.  Equity recognises that men and women are different, and that we need different things which should not exclude us from lending our voice to important decisions, job opportunities and access to any available resources. Equity removes the barriers to opportunities that women often endure, genderised roles.  Equity makes the statement “you can be anything you want to be”, to young girl more believable.   Equity means a better future for my daughter!

Roopa Kallicharan

Assistant Revenue Accountant

What does equity mean to you?

To me, Equity means that everyone has the same chance of advancement, and everyone’s voice is heard equally. There should be no discrimination based on an individual’s skin color, religious beliefs or sexual orientation.

Give us examples of how you embrace equity.

  • Having everyone voice their opinion before decisions are made.
  • Provide equal access to resources and opportunities that arise.

Why is equity important, especially for women?

Equity is important for women as it identifies and removes any obstacles that prohibit them from taking full involvement in activities / tasks.

Have a question?

Contact us for more information on admission requirements.

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