Bermuda observed International Women’s Day on Tuesday. The day marks a global call for accelerating gender parity and celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

In honour of that, I thought I would reflect on the women who have played a pivotal role in my life, and highlight a host of women who have made their mark within the local community.

It is said that charity begins at home, so I shall start with one of the most important women in my life, my mother, Marie Antoinette Pearman Philip.

She was born in Sandys, at the turn of the last century, the last of seven children born to William Morris and Annie Sinclair Pearman. My mother had dreams and aspirations of becoming a lawyer but that was a dream that was not fulfilled. She was a fervent reader and had a keen understanding of the social and political affairs of her day.

Like many women of her era, she was largely responsible for raising the children and was a firm disciplinarian; her goal was to build honesty, respect for others and respect of oneself.

I saw those same characteristics in my late wife Ismay over the 57 years we were married, as we raised our seven children.

Within in a broader context, the role that women once played in our community was very limited in scope.

There were few jobs available to them and they were usually at the lower end of the spectrum, dealing primarily with domestic, clerical or menial tasks with very low pay for services rendered.

Women with a higher education were primarily streamlined towards teaching or nursing with very limited scope for other professions.

All of that has changed significantly in the last number of years. Without doubt they have cracked a few glass ceilings which in the past appeared somewhat impenetrable.

The political landscape has also changed dramatically over the past 70 years. One paradigm shift occurred via the passing of the Women’s Suffrage Act 1944, when women gained the right to vote.

That was indeed a battle hard-fought and won by one of its leading proponents, Gladys Morrell. However, it was limited in scope as it gave only women who were property owners the right to vote and run as candidates in a General Election. In a 1946 by-election, Henrietta Tucker, one of the first presidents of the Bermuda Women’s Suffrage Society, became the first woman to cast a vote in a Bermuda election; Edna Tucker was the first black female voter.

This subsequently led to the election of Hilda Aitkens and Edna Wadson as the first two females of the House of Assembly in 1948. Universal adult suffrage for all Bermudians did not occur until the 1968 General Election.

In the past two decades we have witnessed the appointment of three female premiers: Dame Pamela Gordon-Banks under the former United Bermuda Party, and Dame Jennifer Smith and Paula Cox under the Progressive Labour Party.

Another trailblazer was the late Dame Lois Browne-Evans who, during her tenure as a long-serving lawyer and politician, was the first female lawyer to be called to the Bermuda Bar, the first elected member of Parliament in the Commonwealth to be appointed the leader of an official Opposition Party, and the first to be appointed to the Office of Attorney-General in Bermuda.

It was an historical feat when the late Dame Marjorie Bean was appointed the first female — actually the only female — to serve in the Legislative Council (now known as the Senate).

The Senate today is headed by its first female president, Carol Bassett; for the first time in history the majority of the members of the Senate are women. In the legal profession we have witnessed the appointment of two female judges to the Supreme Court of Bermuda: Norma Wade-Miller and Charles-Etta Simmons. Two years ago we witnessed the appointment of Patricia Dangor as the first female judge for Bermuda’s Court of Appeal.

For 30 years Dianna Kempe played a significant role in the development of international business as a partner in the legal firm today known as Appleby.

Mrs Kempe received the Outstanding World Woman Lawyer of the Year award in London in 2006, was the island’s first female Queen’s Counsel and the first woman to be elected president of the International Bar Association.

In the field of reinsurance and international business, a host of vibrant and astute women have made their mark. One in particular is Fiona Luck. Over the past 25 years she has served in various capacities at XL Group.

One other individual is Cheryl-Ann Lister. She has had a sterling career in the field of banking and international business. She serves as a consultant to the Bermuda Government on matters relating to anti-money laundering and antiterrorism financing.

On the academic front, Emma Robinson became Bermuda’s first female Rhodes Scholar in 1987 and was one of the island’s first female gynecologists/obstetricians. Fifty-two per cent of all Rhodes Scholars have been women over the past 25 years. They have pursued a range of academic disciplines: comparative social policy, public health, law, English literature, epidemiology and sociology.

Seventy-five per cent of all recipients of government scholarships in 2015 were women; my granddaughter Cara Philip was among them.

She is now at Oxford University as an exchange student and is expected to complete her bachelor’s degree at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June.

We cannot forget the great pioneers, the indomitable Marlene B. Landy and her sister Nel Bassett-Carter, Anne Daniels and Shirley Dill, who more than 50 years ago paved the way in the field of broadcasting, radio and television productions in Bermuda.

One compelling, and perhaps unprecedented aspect of it all was documented in the 2014 edition of the Bermuda Job Market Employment Brief Profile. It showed that females represented 49 per cent of the working population at that time, and that they earned more than males. On average, women earned $61,845 in 2014 compared with $59,641 for men. This truly exemplifies that our society is changing and indeed changing for the better in respect of equal rights for all Bermudians.