International Women's Day 8 March, 2025

1 Background
2 The month of March
3 IWC Accelerate Action for 2025
4 UN For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment
5 The technology sector needs more woman engineers
6 Related articles on Designing Buildings

[edit] Background

The first International Women's Day was held in 1911 when more than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. In the UK it took until 1928 for women to receive the vote on the same terms as men. 96 years later there are more women in the boardroom, there is greater equality in legislative rights, and there is an increased critical mass of women's visibility as role models in every aspect of life.

One could think that women have gained true equality. However, on the global stage women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men. In the UK, statistics show that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts and women are still not present in equal numbers in business, politics or construction. Although female representation at board level across FTSE 100 companies has risen – 40% of positions are now held by women, compared with just 12.5% ten years ago – women are still the exception rather than the rule in executive roles.

[edit] The month of March

Women's History Month dates back to 1978 in Santa Rosa, California, when the Education Task Force of Sonoma Country Commission on the Status of Women planned a “Women's History Week” celebration during the week of March 8 to correspond with International Women's Day. In 1987, the US Congress passed a resolution which proclaimed March 1987 as “Women’s History Month.”

Since 1988, Congress and the president of the US have annually issued resolutions and proclamations declaring March as Women’s History Month. According to the National Women’s History Project “These proclamations celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States and recognise the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history in a variety of fields. Many countries continue to celebrate Women's History month in March as well as International Women's Day on the 8th.

[edit] IWC Accelerate Action for 2025

The theme for International Women's Day (IWD) 2025 is "Accelerate Action" emphasising the urgency of making faster, and more effective strides toward gender equality. The 2025 theme is a call for urgency, inclusion, and transformative change. It signals that equality cannot wait, and that all sectors of society must work together to quicken the pace of progress for women’s rights and empowerment. The International Womens day website gives seven reasons why the theme resonates well at this time.

'Progress is too slow: Implement meaningful changes for action positively impacting gender equality.
Addressing global setbacks: COVID-19 disproportionately affected women, recover lost ground.
Inspiring momentum for change: empower the active and encourage the passive to join the movement.
Tackling structural inequalities: Dismantle systemic barriers that perpetuate inequality urgently.
Focus on impactful solutions: Moving from awareness to action, measurable outcomes and long-term solutions.
Inclusivity and intersectionality: ensure all women, inculding the marginalized, benefit from the progress made.
A timely call for accountability: Holds institutions accountable, deliver on commitments with speed and efficiency.

[edit] UN For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment

Gender inequality is the greatest challenge of our times. Gender equality is the greatest opportunity. The 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action is an unmissable chance to remind global leaders and activists that our shared future depends on gender equality and empowering all women and girls. The UN Women website describes six actions that can make a real difference, while placing the leadership of young women and adolescent girls in the centre of all efforts.

For All Women and Girls—A Digital Revolution
For All Women and Girls—Freedom from poverty
For All Women and Girls—Zero Violence
For All Women and Girls—Full and Equal Decision-Making Power
For All Women and Girls—Peace and Security
For All Women and Girls— Climate Justice

The UN Women UK website describes what Rights. Equality. Empowerment means for women in the UK. 'We must fight relentlessly for women’s and girls’ full range of human rights, challenging all forms of violence, discrimination, and exploitation.We must address systemic barriers, dismantle patriarchy, transform entrenched inequities, and elevate the voices of marginalised women and girls, including young people, to ensure inclusivity and empowerment.We must redefine power structures by ensuring inclusive access to education, employment, leadership, and decision-making spaces. Prioritise opportunities for young women and girls to lead and innovate.'

International Women's Day 2025: UK statement to the OSCE Ambassador Neil Holland outlined that progress towards a prosperous world free from poverty cannot be achieved without accelerating gender equality and the empowerment of all girls and women. "The current global trajectory is deeply concerning. Gender equality is under threat, and the world is off track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality by 2030. The power of online disinformation, harm and abuse, and the harnessing of violent misogynistic narratives by influential actors and groups globally is driving new and acute threats to gender equality."

[edit] The technology sector needs more woman engineers

Women have a hard time in the male-dominated technology sector and are taken less seriously. This is a media and societal misrepresentation that urgently needs to be addressed. In a time in which industry faces a shortage of young talent, it is vital that women are not discouraged from pursuing a career in this area. This is the view of Lisa Kagerbauer, an engineer at the pump and dosing specialist Lutz-Jesco in Wertheim, speaking on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

"What counts is performance, not gender", says Lisa Kagerbauer, an engineer at the pump and dosing specialist Lutz-Jesco. “I have to work twice as hard to be accepted”; “I can't afford to make any mistakes, otherwise everyone will think that women aren't cut out for this job”; “I need to adapt and make sure I don't stand out too much”. The list of misconceptions that hinder women who would like to work in the male-dominated technology sector industry is long.

However, the reality is usually much more progressive, stresses Lisa Kagerbauer, who has worked since 2020 as an engineer at Lutz-Jesco, a specialist manufacturer of industrial pump technology and dosing systems based in Wertheim in Baden-Württemberg. “From an early age, women are presented with a rather distorted picture of life by the media and society that doesn’t match reality in most cases”, says Kagerbauer.

“The idea that women in the technology sector constantly have to assert themselves does not match my experience.”

According to Ms Kagerbauer, her positive experience began during her studies, when she shared a flat with two male fellow students. “We supported each other, and gender never even came into it”, recalls the 32-year-old. She also did not experience any prejudice or discrimination at university. “I studied under two woman professors who were highly competent and recognised as valued experts in their fields.”

What about her transition to employment? Here too, gender was not an issue. “As a woman fresh out of university, I was appreciated and supported from the very beginning.” Many older colleagues were impressed by her passion for technology and didn't hesitate to share their knowledge and experience with her. “The idea that women in the technology sector constantly have to assert themselves does not match my reality. What counts is performance, not gender.”

“It is vital to Germany's future that more women contribute their potential to the technology sector.”

According to Ms Kagerbauer, in times in which young talent is at a premium, it is important that women also enter the technology sector. However, women remain under-represented in this area. Figures from the Federal Statistical Office show that the proportion of women employed in technical research and development in 2023 amounted to just 18 per cent.

“In my opinion, it is vital for Germany’s future that more well-qualified young women bring their potential to the technology sector”, says Ms Kagerbauer. She has the following tip for women interested in the field: “be confident and follow your own path. The men are usually on your side. Be confident in salary negotiations. Make realistic demands and never sell yourself short.”

Lisa Kagerbauer helped her older brother with maths, even when she was still at nursery school. Lisa Kagerbauer’s enthusiasm for technology and the natural sciences developed at an early age, and she started helping her brother with his maths homework even when she was at nursery school. “I have always been fascinated by the fact that maths works as a kind of universal language with unerring logic,” recalls Kagerbauer. After leaving school, she studied process engineering and chemical engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). She specialised in food process engineering and completed her master’s degree with a focus on rheology, researching the flow characteristics of milk foam. “I made and smelled milk foam every day for half a year. Since then, I take my coffee black”, Kagerbauer laughs.

She started work as an engineer at Lutz-Jesco in 2020. In the system and process technology department, she and her team develop water treatment systems for industry and sewage treatment plants. "I love working in an informal atmosphere with great colleagues. It suits me much better than the anonymity of a large corporation.” She only missed the exciting night-life of the big city for a while. Now, she appreciates the peace and quiet of the countryside. “I have settled in and don't want to leave.”