What on earth motivated this Victorian woman to trek thousands of miles from Jamaica, her country of birth, to the wretched battlefields of the Crimea? Mary's feistiness and self-confidence leap from the pages of her book. As does the disdain displayed to anybody who dared to consider her inferior due her skin colour.
Why do they bother keeping score in a game where the odds are stacked so extraordinarily in their favour? Why do they play this game of graceless one-upmanship?
Today women account for just 5% of Fortune 500 CEOs and a tragic 0.3% of FTSE 250 CEOs and, in 2013, the number of women in senior management roles, globally, was just 18.5%. These numbers haven't moved much in the last 30 years, so why should I expect them to improve during my daughter's career?
I first met Marie Consolee last year during a moving visit to Rwanda. She had lost her husband, child and livelihood during the genocide but was rebuilding her life as a local farmer and respected member of her community.
Women and girls face discrimination due to gender, potential disabilities and stigma - a triple jeopardy. According to UNDP, girls and women affected by leprosy make up some of the world's poorest and most marginalised groups, disproportionately affected by poverty, illiteracy and lack of education which act as barriers to seeking health treatment. Women and girls with leprosy and those affected by other neglected tropical diseases have the right to health care and the barriers to that stop this must be addressed.
In this day and age where covering up and modesty are looked upon as something inappropriate, the people that do choose to wear clothes that cover their bodies fully are looked on as being different, strange even. What if we stopped stereotyping?
From the humble foundations that Ada Lovelace set us, my biggest piece of advice for women is to gain more confidence. It's time to break down the barriers that you are setting yourselves. From the many conversations I have with people in my own organisation, I see women that are holding themselves back every day because of a tendency to over-analyse.
The celebration of women should be done every day, but in the upcoming International Women's Day I will celebrate the fact that I am a woman living in the UK.
Women are used to bearing it all, talking candidly and honestly on every topic you could possibly think of. In a safe environment, we are willing and able to share our deepest thoughts and bear our soul without fear of judgement or incrimination.
Celia Imrie's comments in Glamour villainise women - like me - who hate being catcalled. But we don't need to "lighten up" about catcalling, we need to shout about it and tell the world that IT'S NOT OKAY.
The grades of the some of the students have improved and, despite the challenge of talking to boys about their violent behaviour, Evelyn's persistence has changed the attitudes and actions of many of the boys she speaks to.
Yet, more than 100 years on and women are still not paid equally to men, not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally have a long way to go in terms of improving women's education, health and the presence of domestic violence. Can we really have it all?
As women, we now have the power to influence the outcome of the election, and a responsibility for it. We need to translate equal rights to vote into equal representation. Without this, policies are skewed in the interests and the image of those that govern - it is government of the few, by the few, for the few.
With a CV that boasts working with the British Olympic sailing team, Libby Greenhalgh is Team SCA's navigator, meteorologist and weather forecaster. An important job, considering that even a slight dip in the wind can massively impact the speed of our Volvo 65 racing boat.
Engineering educators must utilise young peoples' passion, interest, and reach out, to their dreams by means of diversifying and inspiring engineering to the next generation of engineers and scientists.
Sukina (my band member) and I often joke about performing to new audiences and how it takes about three songs before they get over the shock of hijabis running across the stage, telling them to throw their peace signs up.