My Sisters, today we observe International Women’s Day under the UN Women and the United Nations theme DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality. 

The reality is that while we hold up half of the world, we do not yet enjoy the commensurate benefits. Some of this is due to the unequal status which females are accorded in many societies across the world, but also to biased self-assessments which are largely due to gender socialization practices and stereotypical notions about what females can and should do. These in turn fuel occupational sex segregation and are responsible for much of the gender wage differentials we see in many labour markets. We have the power to change these beliefs and socialization practices! Re-socialization that encourages and permits girls to explore beyond narrow boundaries, and take risks, such as in business, is absolutely essential.

Labour Force Survey data for Jamaica show persistent occupational and industrial sex segregation. Employed females continue to be overrepresented in the care/nurture and service and sales type industries and occupations, while males make up the majority in the manufacturing and technical areas. My own Time Use research work with Colin Williams shows that women in Jamaica spend more than twice the time spent by men in unpaid care and domestic work (UCDW), and because of this, their ability to engage in paid work and economic activity is curtailed, explaining much of the gender wage differentials.

As we continue the march for gender equality, therefore, we must find ways to increase women’s engagement in paid work, we must explore ways in which we can break gender gaps in innovation and technology and seek to make women more visible in these areas, and encourage women’s own investment in innovations that meet their unique needs. There is definitely more work to be done!

Let us use International Women’s Day 2023 to shed light on, and strategize around what must be completed, even as we celebrate the many achievements.