Women have come a long way since the very first International Women’s Day observed on 28 February 1909 in the United States, following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America.

In 2009 the Canadian government has picked, “Strong Leadership. Strong Women. Strong World: Equality.” as their theme for International Women’s Day. The government website states: “The theme reflects the government's firm belief that increasing women's participation and access to leadership roles and opportunities will help women and girls thrive, reach their full potential and fulfill their dreams, and help build a more prosperous Canada.

For Canadians, equality means women and men sharing in the responsibilities and obligations, as well as in the opportunities and rewards, of life and work. In Canada, leadership is key across society - from the private sector, to governments, to the general public - for people of all origins, generations and backgrounds to participate fully in our country's economic, social and democratic life, and ultimately, in improving the state of the world.”

Although today in Canada we have more women than ever before holding government seats and working as corporate officers, Catalyst’s report released this week suggests we still have a long way to go.

Catalyst reports the following in the 2008 Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers and Top Earners of the FP500:
“In 2008, women’s representation as corporate officers rose to 16.9 percent, an increase of 1.8 percentage points since 2006 and greater than the 1.1 percentage point increase from 2002 to 2006. The increase in women’s representation among corporate officers was driven by private and crown corporations. Women’s representation among corporate officers of public companies remained stagnant. Meanwhile, since 2002, approximately one-third of FP500 companies have had no women corporate officers. In corporate officer subcategories, women held only 11.4 percent of line roles and comprised only 5.6 percent of top earners. Women led only 30, or 6.0 percent, of FP500 companies.”

Catalyst's Women in Business Pyramid reports that in 2008 while women made up 46.9% of the Canadian workforce, they only held 39.0% of management occupations, 16.9% of FP500 corporate officers, 13.0% of FP500 board directors, 5.6% FP500 top earners and 6.0% of the FP 500 heads of companies.

While you reflect on women’s advancements during this International Women’s Day, celebrate the women who have accomplished great things and pause to think about those women who are making a difference but lacking recognition. Then look ahead and consider how ‘you’ might make a difference to change the numbers in Catalyst’s 2009 report to reflect more women advancing in Canada’s companies.

The government’s belief that “increasing women's participation and access to leadership roles and opportunities will help women and girls thrive, reach their full potential and fulfill their dreams, and help build a more prosperous Canada,” can become a reality if we all support women in the workplace and remove some of the barriers that keep them from achieving their goals.

I’m all for “Strong Leadership. Strong Women. Strong World: Equality,” now we just have to put the words into action.

Further reading:
International Women’s Day - Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women's_Day
Celebrating International Women's Day and All the Women Who Help NRC Put Science at Work for Canada http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/highlights/2006/0603iwd_e.html
International Women’s Day 2009 http://www.internationalwomensday.com/facts.asp
WiN’s Position Paper, Women and the Nuclear Talent Pool http://www.wincanada.org/news/women-and-the-nuclear-talent-pool-46
WiNfluence series on myths that act as barriers to women’s advancement in the workplace:
http://www.wincanada.org/blog/archives/it-is-only-a-matter-of-time-be/
http://www.wincanada.org/blog/archives/women-are-opting-out/
http://www.wincanada.org/blog/archives/women-are-distracted/
http://www.wincanada.org/blog/archives/women-just-dont-do-the-right-t/
http://www.wincanada.org/blog/archives/this-is-the-fifth-in/
http://www.wincanada.org/blog/archives/women-are-not-natural-born-lea/