Three Marble Arch companies took part in a virtual careers panel on 8 March 2021 to celebrate International Women’s Day. The session was run in collaboration with Marriott International’s Business Council who are passionate about promoting gender equality and wanted to raise awareness of International Women’s Day within our community. The event was attended by 30 Year 9 students from St Marylebone CE School and 20 Marriott Executives.

This year’s theme was ‘Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID- 19 World’. The session began with exploring how the pandemic had deepened preexisting gender inequalities whilst showcasing examples of fantastic female leadership. The opening segment concluded that diverse representation was key to obtaining gender equality.

The introduction was then followed by three careers talks from female leaders within the hospitality, pharmaceutical and construction industries. The panelists discussed their roles, careers paths, and the life lesson’s they have learnt as female leaders of industry. This was then followed by a ten minute Q&A session.

The event concluded with attendees being encouraged to reflect on what actions we can all take to challenge gender bias within our daily lives. Panelists and attendees were then invited to share their #ChooseToChallenge pledges via our virtual wall.

A huge thank you to our panelists from Marriott International, Advanced Accelerator Applications and Galliford Try for helping us celebrate IWD 2021.