International Women's day 2016

March 8th marked another year of celebrating International Women's Day. Celebrating the role which women play in society today.

There can be no denying that women have a greater choice of careers today than in the early part of last century.

I was particularly struck by the series of Mr Selfridge and how women had begun to take key roles in the workplace. Not only that during that time there were many pioneers, beginning to make a mark in society not just in this country but abroad.

One in particular was Elizabeth Arden, who founded a cosmetic company in 1910 in America and it still continues to produce products today all over the world. There are many high profile women today who produce their own brands today. One is Victoria Beckham, wife of David Beckham.

Women over the past century have taken lead roles in careers. Amelia Earhart is one who comes to mind. She was the first woman aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Today there is a minority in women pilots. In the past it was seen as a man's job. There was a poll back in 2015 where it showed women were put off from flying as a career as there was a lack of role models.

It was said that women have always dreamed of being a pilot, and companies are encouraging women to rethink their options.

Yvonne Pope Sintes was the first female commercial pilot. She said she did come across some negativity. One pilot said he would resign if a woman was to be employed alongside him.

In the world today there are 4000 female pilots compared to 130,000 male worldwide.

Today there was a story in The Guardian about a flight in Vietnam, where a man didn't want to fly on that particular flight as there were two lady pilots, so he decided to get another flight.

While there are still some prejudices in careers, more women have a greater choice in their career options as they have been accepted in the workplace.

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