The International Women’s Day  (IWD) is celebrated on 8th March every year. It is a day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women.  It is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate with men at an equal footing; to participate in decision making and aiming for equality, justice, peace and development.

The UN theme of 2009 is: Women and men united to end violence against women and girls.

Women has made big strides over the generations, breaking free from the shackles of oppression, stereotyping and tradition. However, there is still a long way  to go to seek true equality. I came across this very interesting graph in the The New York Times on “Why is her paycheck smaller?”. Nearly every occupation has a gap in the paycheck brought home by a woman and the larger one earned by a man doing the same job. Why do you think this is the case? What can be done to change this?

I read a very interesting book by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever called “Women don’t ask”. It offers important insights into the persistent economic gap between men and women. The book outlines major reason that women still work for less money and advance slowly and less than men. One of the reasons is that women themselves have accepted the status quo and refrained from asking for more than they’re offered and for less than they need or deserve! By not negotiating the first salary, the authors claim, that the individual loose more than half a million dollars by age 60!

At the end of the day, we are responsible for what we get. My advice to overcome the inequality issue is to think about what is most important to you, speak up and negotiate or else surrender your goals!