Embracing equity at Cambridge
This International Women’s Day, our colleagues around the world share what equity means to them.
Understanding equity
Equality is leaving the door open for anyone who has the means to approach it; equity is ensuring there is a pathway to that door for those who need it.
Caroline Belden, The Inclusion Solution
This year's International Women's Day campaign theme, #EmbraceEquity, aims to get people talking about why ‘equal opportunities are no longer enough’, and can in fact be exclusionary, rather than inclusive.
The theme highlights why it is important to understand and acknowledge the differences between 'equity' and 'equality'.
Below are the definitions of these two words taken from our online Cambridge Dictionary:
- equality noun [ U or C ] the right of different groups of people to have a similar social position and receive the same treatment
- equity noun [ U ] the situation in which everyone is treated fairly according to their needs and no group of people is given special treatment
To help with learning these terms and their meanings, our dictionary editors have put together a word list of vocabulary related to #EmbraceEquity.
Rather than giving everyone the exact same resources or opportunities; equity recognises that each person has different circumstances, and different resources and opportunities will be needed to reach an equal outcome.
Teesh Pacris, Internal Communications and Engagement Officer based in our Manila office, shares her take on #EmbraceEquity:
Embracing equity addresses the actual needs of individuals or groups, rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution. Equity levels the playing field, making sure that we recognise and take down barriers, so everyone has the right tools to succeed.
Nirali Pandya, Business Development Lead for West and Central India, also gave her perspective:
For me, #EmbraceEquity is about giving opportunities and a platform for women, empowering them to succeed and creating a more inclusive world. The concept of embracing equity is not only nice-to-have, but a must-have.
Exploring equity and spreading knowledge
At Cambridge, we aim to spread knowledge and raise awareness of important issues around the world. One way we can do this is through our publishing. For International Women's Day 2023, we've made a number of book chapters and journal articles free-to-read to aid understanding across a range of topics. The content is authored by and about women, celebrating the theme #EmbraceEquity.
In addition, we have curated a collection of our popular books exploring the themes running throughout International Women’s Day. Titles such as Cracking the Digital Ceiling by Carol Frieze and Jeria L. Quesenberry, asks vital questions around gender equity in certain careers, and challenges commonly held views and explanations for women’s low participation in computing through global perspectives. The Qualifications Gap, Why Women Must Be Better than Men to Win Political Office by Nichole M. Bauer is an award-winning book that uncovers the gendered qualifications gap, showing that women need to be significantly more qualified than men to win elections. Creating Equality at Home by Francine M. Deutsch and Ruth A. Gaunt tells the fascinating real-life stories of 25 couples around the world and how they reject identity prescriptions, showing that equality at home is possible.
Embracing equity at Cambridge
As a global organisation, we want to build a place where we each feel included and accepted for who we are, wherever we are, across the world. Both in our products and services, and in our teams, we want to reflect the millions of teachers, learners and researchers we serve and the millions more we want to reach.
Julie Dennis, our Chief Technology Officer - Architecture & Direction, echoes this in her personal reflection on this year’s International Women’s Day theme and how it relates to the workplace:
For me, embracing equity means that as a progressive organisation, one of the fundamental tenants that we should be embracing is building an organisation that reflects the society that we operate in and reflects the customer base that we are looking to service.
She added: "Increasingly, it is imperative for the organisation that wants to be fit for purpose in the future to demonstrate development paths for everyone, through the organisation with strong diverse representation at all levels. I am focused on making that change happen as a senior leader, it fulfils my personal work/life aspirations but also benefits the organisation as it will thrive and progress with a greater diversity of voices being heard.
"We need to be acutely aware of unconscious bias which can be an unintentional barrier to change. And critically, we must all be aware that everyone’s journey is different. Some people have more doors opened than others and fewer hurdles to their career advancement."
Dr Lilian Dogiama is our newly appointed Head of Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging for International Education. In a blog sharing her personal reflection on International Women's Day, she said:
I realise that I can’t change the world but that doesn't mean I won’t try to change whatever I can. Being part of an organisation that takes inclusion seriously gives me the power and resources to do my best to improve the situation.
Lilian's role focuses on our communities of Cambridge students and teachers across the globe, as well as colleagues in our International Education team. She added: "I am working closely with my colleagues to improve our offerings by eliminating gendered language from our content and by promoting an equal representation of women and minority groups among other things."
The many passionate colleagues involved in our 12 staff networks are a constant driving force behind building an equitable, diverse and inclusive place to work at Cambridge. The staff networks work closely with Lilian and our other colleagues working in Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging to embed inclusion principles in our people, product, and operational strategies.
Kate Hughes, Head of Delivery for Admissions Testing and co-chair of our Gender Balance staff network, said:
Embracing equity to me means making sure that we give everyone the tools and support needed to succeed, whatever that means for them and where they are starting from.
The purpose of the Gender Balance staff network is to make sure that no colleague, learner, teacher or candidate is disadvantaged in any way as a result of their gender.
Karen Stephenson, Business Support Manager and Kate’s Gender Balance network co-chair, said:
We want to make sure that everyone here feels supported and has a voice. International Women’s Day is a chance to highlight all the great work that’s happening across the organisation to support everyone, whatever their starting point.
Kate, Karen, and other colleagues involved in our Gender Balance and Women in Leadership staff networks have been leading the way in planning a month of events and activities for our colleagues to celebrate International Women’s Day and raise awareness of discrimination.
This year, Cambridge University Press & Assessment colleagues can get involved in a range of fantastic events, from a panel discussion with our executive board members on the ‘embrace equity’ theme, a keynote talk exploring sustainable resistance and activism from the author of The Lightmaker’s Manifesto, Karen Walrond, to sessions hosted by our Giving Back staff network with the charity CAMFED on the importance of educating women and girls.
In solidarity and support for International Women's Day 2023, our colleagues around the world have also been sharing photos of themselves striking the #EmbraceEquity pose. Watch the video below to see their photos:
Further reading
You may also like to read our other resources and content for International Women's Day from across Cambridge University Press & Assessment, including:
- Five significant women in the field of mathematics, five inspirational women in psychology, and equity in the health and care sector from our UK exam board subject advisors
