International Women’s Day celebrates the achievements of women-past, present and future. It was first celebrated in 1911 and the day has often been commemorated for the last century by feminists on the streets, fighting for their social, economic and political rights. In the 21^st Century, feminism and the need to celebrate women’s achievements is often seen as a bit anachronistic- terms like ‘post-feminist’ are bandied about and women who push for their rights are often seen as demanding unnecessary change. As a result, I thought it might be a good day to reflect on where we are in terms of gender equality in Britain (Ok, many of my figures will be for Scotland, but we’re not that different from the rest of the UK- honest!). On International Women’s Day in 1911, women campaigned for the right to vote and hold public office, the rights to work and fair pay, and the right to an education. What have we achieved since then?

Women are in paid employment outside of the home in large numbers. In fact, in Scotland 50% of the workforce is now female. Yet, women with children (especially young children) continue to be under-represented in the workplace, perhaps highlighting the lack of cheap childcare facilities available to parents- and the disproportionate burden this places on mothers who continue to be the main caregiver in most families. Possibly for similar reasons, women work part-time in large numbers, with 41% of women working part-time compared to 10% of men in Scotland (40% and 11% in the UK). Women also continued to be grouped in low-paid work. In the UK, 16.1% of men are low-paid, compared to 29% of women. Furthermore, in Scotland, full-time female workers are still earning 88% of the wage of a full-time male worker. In 2005, women working full-time in professional jobs earned only 86% of their male-equivalents; process, plant and machine operatives earned only 70%, and those in manufacturing earned only 68% of their male counterparts. Even in female dominated industries, such as education, full-time female workers earned only 91% of the male wage. Most worryingly, the fulltime gender pay-gap increased in 2008 to 17.1%, while that for part-time workers increased to 36.6%. Overall, women’s average income from all sources (including stocks and other assets) was only 60% of men’s in 2005.

On the other hand, women are less likely to be registered as ‘unemployed’. In 2005, women had an unemployment rate of only 5% in Scotland, compared to 6% for men. These figures have increased with the recession, where women appear to be affected similarly to men, but how this will impact differentially by gender is still unclear. Women also contribute significantly to household incomes. Recent studies show that in the UK, 67% of couple household income is provided by men, while 32% comes from women. However for 21% of couples, women’s income makes up over 50% of the household income. Furthermore, lone parents, of which 90% are women, head 25% of families, so women’s earnings support large numbers of families.

A more positive picture is found in education. Girls are outperforming boys at school for the first time. Over 50% of people attending university are now women and women are found as students in larger numbers than men in further education. In 2007, 56% of university students were female, and 49% of young women are now attending university compared to 38% of young men. Women now outnumber men in ‘prestige’ subjects such as law and medicine, and in 2009, they outperformed men in almost every measure of academic achievement. They took more places at the prestigious Russell Group Universities, with the exception of Cambridge and Oxford where they are now in equal numbers to men. Women also got more ‘good’ degrees than men overall, although more first class degrees were given to men.

Less positively, the response to this in the press has not been to celebrate the dramatic advances women have made, but to worry about why men aren’t on top. In particular, the numbers of women in medicine has led to a large outcry and a demand that their places should be restricted. The fact that until recently places for women in medicine were restricted to a 30% quota (with no outcry in the press at all about the effect on gender equality) or that they were completely excluded from medicine until the nineteenth-century- so no gender parity at all- goes remarkably unmentioned. It seems gender parity only matters when men get the short-end of the stick.

In politics, women still only make up 19% of MPs in the UK parliament, although they make up 39% of MSPs (Scottish Parliament) and in 2003, women made up 50% of the Welsh Assembly. Women only make up 16.7% of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Women from ethnic minority backgrounds are an even worse position, with only 2 black female MPs in the UK parliament (and none in Scotland or Wales). There has only been three black women ever elected and no Asian women has yet been elected to the UK parliament- despite ethnic minority women making up 5.2% of the UK population. Northern Ireland has one ethnic minority female member, Anna Lo, who was born in Hong Kong. Women are also under-represented in the civil-service and more worryingly in 2008, it was reported that the numbers of women being promoted to senior posts has declined from 32% in 2005 to 24% in 2008.

Overall then women have a lot to celebrate, but at the same time have a lot to achieve- we should not be complacent. This is especially the case where it seems that gender equality is declining, rather than increasing. The idea that full equality is coming, we just need time, is belied by these decreases. Furthermore, the gender equality of the past is often used as an excuse to be unfair in the present. When they appointed the new Supreme Court of the UK in 2009, they only appointed one female judge. As judges are older members of the profession, defenders of this decision argued that it reflected the gender inequalities of the past. Yet, this argument belied the fact that in the 1980s, between 13-16% of solicitors were women; by the 90s it was a third. 1 woman out of 12 judges is only 8%, and even 2 women in 12 would have only brought us parity with the number of women solicitors in the 1980s- let alone in later decades. Gender inequality continues to persist and replicate itself. The time for ‘post-feminism’ has not yet arrived.  

Dr Katie Barclay finds it depressing that in her chosen field the gender pay-gap has increased year after year, despite growing numbers of women in the profession. She celebrates, however, that she works as a historian amongst many other successful, fascinating women whose achievements are built on the work of generations of women and men fighting for gender equality.