How Thales is #InspiringInclusion this International Women’s Day

Across Thales, we have a responsibility to build an inclusive and equitable workplace, free of bias. We also have a role to play to inspire girls and women of all ages to demonstrate how the world of science and technology is accessible to all.

International Women’s Day on the 8^th of March is one of the big events on the calendar for our Be You with Us Networks, especially for We in Thales (WiTh UK) who are marking the occasion with networking events around our UK sites on the 6^th and 7^th of March.

This year, the theme of International Women’s Day is ‘Inspire Inclusion’. We are demonstrating this by focusing on the importance of networking and building strong relationships, allowing individuals the opportunity to share their experiences in order to inspire others to understand and value women's inclusion.

Networking is crucial for women in many different ways;

• Relationship building; providing opportunities for individuals to connect with and identify mentors who can share experience and insights
• Knowledge sharing; allowing individuals to exchange ideas, best practices and experiences with peers
• Visibility and recognition; building a strong professional network allows individuals to increase visibility and be recognised for achievements which can lead to new opportunities
• Overcoming barriers; providing a space for individuals to share challenges and strategies for overcoming barriers such as gender bias

Volunteering plays a big part in building inclusive and accessible opportunities for all. Thales employees are able to use their paid volunteering hours to support local communities and groups. For example, this includes Virtual Mentoring with ‘The Women's Engineering Society’ whose mission is to support women in engineering to fulfil their potential and support the engineering industry to be more inclusive.