Celebrate the Women in Your Life

Welcome to Women’s History Month, kicked off by International Women’s Day on March 8. This is a great time to reflect on the contributions of women today and throughout history. For example, the past year saw the first all-woman spacewalk, as well as Christina Koch breaking the record for the longest space mission for a woman.

Women are succeeding in an expanding number of realms and professions. We are sportscasters (Michele Tafoya, Doris Burke), major league coaches (Becky Hammon), and sports superstars (the entire US Women’s National Soccer team). We lead Fortune 500 companies (Mary Barra of GM). We are political leaders (Nevada’s state legislature is the first to have a female majority and a record number of women are seeking the nomination for President from a major party). And, we are students (women now outnumber men at colleges and universities).

Closer to home, we’ve always been educators and innovators (Maria Montessori, Mary McLeod Bethune) and continue to lead today (Elizabeth Bailey of the Wharton School at UPA, Susan Hockfield at MIT, and Theresa Battle of Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District 191). And, we also play significant roles in technology innovation as we lead tech companies (Susan Wojcicki of YouTube) and remember those who paved the way for us (Margaret Hamilton of NASA, Grace Hopper of the US Navy, and Katherine Johnson, also of NASA).

Globally, women continue their rise to prominence and equality. Spain now has a women-majority cabinet. Women in Saudi Arabia have the right to drive.

While we still have strides to make (in the US we remain one state short of ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment), we have made great progress since the days when women couldn’t even hold credit cards in their own names. One of the things we value at Scantron is the number of women leaders at all levels of the company—50% of the Scantron Executive Leadership Team is female.

Famous or personal, we all have female role models and heroes. We are inspired by their progress, their grit, and their fortitude. During Women’s History Month, we encourage you to think about the women in your life who inspire you.