The theme of International Women’s Day (IWD) 2025 is “accelerating action,” encouraging a quick step towards gender equality. The theme calls for an increase in momentum and urgency to address the systemic barriers and biases faced by women, both in their personal and professional fields. According to data from the World Economic Forum, the current rate of progress will take 2158, approximately five generations from now.
Conference News spoke to Laura Travenor, a marketing consultant and board member for the Women In Exhibitions (WIE) UK Chapter. GabbyAustenBrowne, The Diversity Alliance, Neil Hudson Basing, Founders of Community and Events Director, We Create Space, Cat Kevern Director and Nowie of Electric Cat, Sarah Yeats Mander Mander at Electia Adieu, Markate
When there is a need to accelerate gender equality in the event industry and action.
The state of gender equality in the event industry
A 2022 IBTM survey found that while 77% of the event industry workforce are women, gender equality is still problematic nonetheless. Those we spoke to explained that progress is still too late while progressing in terms of gender parity within the industry. Laura Taveror highlights the disparity in the workforce while women run the show and men run the business. Felicia Ashido acknowledges progress, but “progress is not the same as arrival. In many cases, the leadership table is dominated by men making big calls.” She urges the industry to move beyond performance gestures towards real action, including equal pay, equal opportunities, and more women in executive roles. She said: “If gender equality is an event, it feels like the industry sent out ‘saving dates’, but I forgot to book the venue. Progress is happening, but it’s too late. “Neil Hudson-Basing adds that despite years of demand for change, the diversity of panels remains an issue, making up half of most panels. He said: Sometimes you need to dig a little deeper to see who else is there. ”
Barriers of progress
Despite women making up 77% of the event industry workforce, only 16% are taking on leadership roles. It is important to note that progress is slowing down in certain sectors of the industry, including less flexible technical roles and roles, such as touring, live events, and production. Gabby Austin Brown highlights structural barriers, particularly for women of color. She explains that she sees multiple combined barriers that require urgent action through her work with countless organizations through her Diversity Alliance. The most insidious barrier is what we call “proving syndrome again,” where women, especially black women, are constantly showing their ability and male colleagues need to benefit from the suspicion. Felicia repeats this, referring to an “implicit rulebook” in which women force women to justify their position in ways that men do not. Gabby said: And we cannot ignore global contexts. In many regions, women’s rights are actively rewind. As an internationally active event expert, we need to recognize these realities and counter these harmful trends using our platforms rather than incorrectly reinforcing them. ”
Sarah Yates emphasizes that the industry lacks much needed flexibility and clings to the idea of ”how this is always done.” She said: “The job of an event expert can involve long periods rather than your typical 9-5, so it’s important to defend the flexibility to complement lifestyle changes, sensitivity to practice, and evolve roles in ways that women can adapt and grow freely, such as the period of menopause or menopause.” Harriet Bren says he considers this to be one of the biggest barriers. She said: “Our industry is fast-paced and often on constantly. It’s difficult for many women to relax the balance between work and family commitment. Many companies fully support flexible work requests, even when they are always on hand to support their colleagues.”
Laura expands this, explaining that in many cases the point where people choose to have a family is roughly the same time as reaching the head of departmental roles. She said: “Having a family can be a barrier to career progression. However, since the pandemic, businesses have become more flexible and allow women to have both careers and families. Women should feel empowered that any decisions should not affect their careers.”
Industry Responsibility
Cat Kevern says he doesn’t think the industry is doing enough to support and promote women into senior leadership positions. This amplifies the problem of women putting career ladders further down as women are expected to behave the same way, and because there is no proper expression there is often a feeling of lacking space in senior positions. ”
Gabby said: “The industry is improving by recognizing that there are challenges, but there is still a disconnect between rhetoric and the living experiences of women in our industry. I see companies failing to create conditions for women, especially women of color, to truly thrive, while proudly promoting statements of diversity.”
The role of the allies
Gender equality is not just a matter of women, it requires active cooperation. Neal emphasizes the challenges men face with women, calling for sexism and need to educate them on clear workplace behavioral standards, particularly in social settings in which alcohol is involved. He said: “Men need to actively amplify women’s voices and not disrupt or speak. He also emphasizes the need for workplace policies that support women, such as menopause policies and white ribbon certification to combat gender-based violence. Cats emphasize the power of mentorship and encourage male leaders to establish internal mentoring programs. She says: “Men need to put aside unconscious bias and really listen. We also need to see an increasing number of men on panels on women’s issues and DEIs.” Laura Taverner adds that real change requires collective effort. “We can talk about gender disparities and non-bias, but true equality takes action from everyone. Men can support women by listening to their biases and consciously challenging them in their decision-making.”
Felicia simply says. Also, try normalizing what men are taking parental leave or flexible work. If you do that, these things will be considered “women’s issues” and become “people’s issues.” ”
Accelerate action beyond International Women’s Day:
IWD is an opportunity to celebrate women, discuss progress in reaching gender equality, and remember how far they still need to go when it comes to equality for all. It is clear that the events industry still has a long way to go, and it is important that this debate continues, not just marking the IWD. Felicia said: “Congratulations if your commitment to gender equality is nothing more than an IWD social media post. You made marketing, not progress. Actual changes mean setting measurable targets, reviewing employment policies, ensuring equal pay audits, creating a leadership pipeline. Companies need to back up their words with data, funding and structural changes.” In addition to this, IWD says that it’s a great way to start these conversations, but that should be the starting point. “Leaders will use this opportunity to revise and modify internal policies, perform annual temperature checks with female staff, implement internal DEI policies, and provide the flexibility of work possible.”
Laura adds: “There are very clear shared goals because businesses need to be transparent about gender disparities and share goals and plans with employees. It’s a challenge for names, but IWD must be something that is not just for women, it must be something that all employees are involved, and it’s clear communication about why, so everyone is willing to accelerate change, influence behavior, and challenge stereotypes.”
Supporting supporters:
The International Women’s Day website explains that one of the best ways to accelerate action is to “support our supporters.” The events industry has amazing people, groups and organizations who do incredible work on DEI initiatives. Felicia said: “We support people who work, not just the work itself. We invest in training, mentoring, and sponsorship schemes. We celebrate and promote those who want equity not only with IWD but also with meeting rooms, employment meetings and annual performance reviews.”
Both Wie and Nowie are fantastic organizations aimed at supporting women in the industry. WIE supports women on their career journeys with regular networking, training sessions and especially supportive mentoring programs as women and Nowie work hard to improve women’s landscapes at events. They provide career support and opportunities, promote professional growth, champion diversity and inclusion, and provide a safe and powerful community built by women for women. Laura said: “Sharing ideas, success stories and having open conversations will help the industry collectively accelerate action and become a more attractive place for everyone.”
International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate progress, but it also serves as a reminder that true change requires continuous and meaningful action.
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