International Women’s Day originated to honour the women, who in 1908 protested against women’s working conditions. 15,000 women in New York City united at Union Square demanding economic and political rights, sparking a number of similar strikes around the world.

It only seems appropriate to identify some specific data about women in the Australian workplace in the twenty-first century, influenced by these incredible women.

10 Statistics which may surprise you about women in the workplace:

1. Women represent 57.5% of enrolled domestic students and across all universities

2. 15.6% of women are enrolled in engineering and related technologies

3. Of all women aged 25-29, 39.9% have achieved a bachelor degree or above, compared to 30.9% of men in the same age bracket

4. Women earn on average $253.70 per week less than men making it a 15.3% difference, however in WA the gender pay gap is 22.5% being the highest in Australia

5. Women hold 13.7% of Chair positions in Australia

6. Women hold 24.9% of Directorships in Australia

7. 16.5% of Australian CEOs are women

8. The average undergraduate starting salaries for women are 1.8% less than for men. This increases to 16.5% for postgraduate graduates

9. The highest gender pay gap by industry is financial and insurance services at 26.1%

10. The gender pay gap has decreased by 3.2% since November 2014

Discovering these figures, we analysed people2people’s female workforce participation:

o 75% - of the Senior leadership team are women

o 50% - of the Board of Directors are women

As Kylie Fuller, the Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Telstra, wisely said at the CPA International Women’s Day luncheon in Sydney:

“Don’t wait for the revolution be a part of the evolution”

*Statistics are based of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency updated as of February 2018