International Women’s Day – What #BreakTheBias Means To Woodsure Registrants?

For International Women’s Day, this year’s theme is #BreakTheBias, and we saw this as an opportunity to showcase some of the women within the industry, which is traditionally seen as a male-dominated sector.

We are proud to support women as an employer and through our certification schemes and feel it is important to continue to highlight all voices to progress as an industry.

The contributors were asked for a photo and what #BreakTheBias means to them.

Rebecca – All Seasons GM Ltd

I am a mother, I am a wife, I am a creator and a leader.

We are a male-dominated industry but that hasn’t dominated my role within our business. If you want to do it then you’ll do a great job.

Sarah – The Log People

I absolutely love working in the firewood supply industry and I’m proud of the contribution women have made, and continue to make, to drive our sector forward and shape its direction.

Our industry is male-dominated – which is great, but that’s hardly surprising when our industry is peppered with stereotypes and expectations of strong burley males chopping, lugging and delivering logs. And whilst those roles continue to be a lifeblood of our industry, not all these roles are necessarily performed by “big burly males.” There are plenty of females performing these functions too. In fact, our HGV driver and pallet supply manager is a camera-shy but strong-minded female!

Whilst many may not know it, there’s an army of customer-focused, strategically-led women performing integral front-line and back-office roles that are all vital to keeping the firewood supply chain moving. From raw material sourcing to delivery coordination, compliance, customer service and marketing, there’s a wealth of roles being performed by both women and men!

To me, gender equality is a mindset. Equality isn’t just about equal representation in number, but it’s also about how women are perceived and respected in an industry which has been traditionally male-dominated and continues to be a poster industry of strong burly male stereotypes.

To be truly equal, women, as well as men, must adapt their own mindsets. The bias can be broken, but only if we allow it.