As Queen Elizabeth II turned the grand old age of 90 last month, we’ve been reflecting on how the world of work has changed for British women in her lifetime.
The Queen has had an incredible career herself, spanning 64 years and counting - and becoming the longest serving British monarch in history.
Here we take a look at five things that are (almost) no longer a barrier for women like you forging a career in the UK today.
1. Retiring after marriage
In 1919, the Sex Disqualification Removal Act made it illegal to disqualify a woman “from the exercise of any public function” based on her gender or her marital status. However your great-grandmother likely felt pressure to retire from her career after her wedding - the stigma around women continuing to work after their marriage persisted well into the 1950s.
2. Exclusion from certain professions
Although the 1919 Act opened up many professions to women in theory, it wasn’t until the Second World War twenty years later that this started to happen in practice. For example, married women weren’t allowed to be teachers in the UK until 1944. With many men not returning from battle, women were brought into jobs on the home front, challenging the stereotype that a woman's place was in the kitchen.
3. Unequal pay
This may be an ongoing issue but before the 1970 Equal Pay Act, employers could legally pay their female employees less than their male counterparts. This legislation went some way to redressing the pay gap but in 2014, the Office for National Statistics found that there’s still a 14.2% pay gap between men and women in full-time work in Britain – there’s still some way to go.
4. Discrimination against expecting mothers
Before the Employment Protection Act of 1975, women could be fired from their job if they fell pregnant. The new law protected expectant mother’s rights and introduced statutory maternity pay. Your grandmother’s generation arguably experienced the biggest shift in employment equality with a number of important laws coming into effect during their career.
5. Skirts only
We've all had to wear a uniform at some point but there's usually a choice between a skirt or trousers. It's only relatively recently that the latter has been an option for women. In some professions this was as late as the 1990s - it wasn't until May 1995 that the Lord Chancellor stated female barristers could wear trousers in court.