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Students have been looking at resources on International Women’s Day (IWD) as part of their Personal Development topic this week. March 8th is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.

IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organisation specific.

The theme this year has focused on ‘Embrace Equity’ to get the world talking about why opportunities are not enough. People start from different places so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action. Students used the following image to discuss the difference between equality and equity.

Equity can be defined as giving everyone what they need to be successful. In other words, it's not giving everyone the exact same thing. If we give everyone the exact same thing, expecting that will make people equal, it assumes that everyone started out in the same place - and this can be vastly inaccurate because everyone isn't the same.

Equity recognises that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome. A shift from gender equality to the process of gender equity is required for meaningful progress.