This figure, and the high proportion of women in the sector, has remained largely stable since 2018. The need to support, grow, develop and encourage women is there.

Micelle Obama was quoted stating "there is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish". And that’s right, women should be able to achieve anything they want to be able to do, and workplaces have a responsibility to make this happen.

Societal challenges often burden women with a disadvantage in the workplace from the start – gender pay gaps, lack of opportunities and options – especially so when returning from maternity leave, gender stereotypes, sexual harassment and discrimination, and managing a work-life balance.

The VCSE sector is a sector with limited resources, but support and opportunities can still be fostered and developed and must be to allow women to thrive.

At Nova, we do our best to be a role model organisation in terms of workplace wellbeing, support, growth and development. Here’s what we do to support women to grow.

We proactively promote and provide opportunities to women. Someone once said to me, ‘make sure your staff are better than you are’, and that really resonated. Providing opportunities can be done in many ways, regardless of budget. Offer that shadowing opportunity and peer support, hand over the management of a project, provide the training opportunity, give the right people the chance to grow, develop and flourish, offer the promotion. Women are capable and deserving of it all.

We make sure our policies are inclusive and supportive of women. Over the last few years, we have introduced Menopause, Pregnancy Loss, and Enhanced Maternity and Adoption Pay policies. We also have equal pay opportunities that are reviewed annually, no matter what gender. These policies recognise that in order to support women to achieve, we need to be flexible, supportive, and offer an appropriate level of financial support for women to feel valued and able to be their best.

We offer paid Dependents and Carers leave. Work isn’t always the most important/appropriate place for us to be that day – we recognise that all staff have lives and responsibilities out of work that sometimes take precedent in work time, and we want to support personal and family situations.

We have a culture where support, praise, and kindness come naturally. 100%of staff in our staff survey said they were happy to work at Nova. We strive to continue to provide an evolving culture where honesty, positivity, and recognition are provided throughout the team, and staff know their worth.

We encourage you to consider what your organisation can do for women.

Written by Nova's Head of Operations, Natalie Jones, for International Women's Day 2025.