Women's History Month and International Women's Day, specifically, are key cultural moments that we at MarketAxess have made a big deal of for years - and rightfully so. We celebrate our women and their achievements every day of the year, but having a dedicated month that's focused on highlighting the impact that women have had throughout history and the progress that's been made towards building a more equitable society - while still acknowledging the work that still lies ahead - is of critical importance to ultimately drive change.
This year's International Women's Day theme is "Break the Bias", which encourages us to actively call out gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping - a responsibility we should all take seriously. In celebration of International Women's Day, we had a great lineup of events around the world, with so much more to come throughout the course of Women's History Month.
We kicked off the day with breakfast in each of our offices (we even sent breakfast to our Hong Kong colleagues at home, who currently are in lockdown!), sponsored by our Women in Technology group, which was a great way to bring employees together.
Employees in our Amsterdam office enjoying their breakfast, compliments of our Women in Tech group!
Back by popular demand, we set up a post-it wall in our NYC office, encouraging our employees to write down on post-it notes how they will help #BreakTheBias. It was so inspiring to see both our female employees and allies state the commitments they will make to call out gender bias when they see it and promote gender equality.
After a brief hiatus, the IWD post-it wall in NYC is back! Employees share how they will "break the bias".
To close out the day, we were fortunate enough to be joined by Joann S. Lublin, Pulitzer Prize Winner, and former career columnist for the Wall Street Journal & Lara Spencer, Good Morning America co-anchor, and Creator/Executive Producer of Flea Market Flip on HGTV, for a virtual discussion on Joann's new book "Power Moms" and how much more must be done to make being a working mother easier.
London employees pose with Joann Lublin's "Power Moms" book
We asked some of our women around the world to share what THEY will personally do to help #BreakTheBias, and here's what they had to say:
Jenny (Diversity and Talent Acquisition Specialist, London)
"I will break the bias by being somebody that calls out and could be a potential disruptor - so I'll call it if I hear or see someone doing something that is discriminatory. I'll also listen, so that if we're in rooms and women are in the minority, we listen and are encouraged to speak out. And flip it, so if words are being used don't apply to both males and females, we should stop using them. 'Working moms', for example - we never hear people say 'working dads'."
Shereen (Strategy Execution Lead, Singapore)
"How am I going to break the bias? One, is to walk the talk myself - not to discriminate, not to stereotype anyone in all my daily interactions. And two, is to actively call out any positive and also any negative behavior to create more awareness of this topic in the community."
Camille (Head of Post Trade Straight Through Processing Business Development, London)
"This year, I'm going to be even more conscious of the unconscious bias that I and others may hold. Also, through working on the apprenticeship program, the intern program, and other recruitment initiatives, I will work to make MarketAxess an even more diverse organization than it is already.
We look forward to sharing more about how we're commemorating this Women's History Month and continue to champion diversity and inclusion within MarketAxess and beyond. In the meantime, if you're looking to join a company that truly values, supports, and empowers its women, browse our available opportunities here.