From the moment we take our first steps, we are told to reach for the stars but never go too far. Dream, but within reason. Aspire, but remain grounded. Build, but not at the expense of others. As women, we are taught to navigate a tightrope – balancing between ambition and expectation, strength and softness, resilience and compliance.
We are told to have it all, yet somehow, all is never enough. A young girl must excel but not intimidate. A teenager must lead but not overshadow. A woman must succeed but never at the cost of the family she is expected to nurture. We are always asked for more – and when we become too much, we are asked to be less.
But what does it mean to make something out of ourselves, to build? Is success measured by a title, a bank account, or the quiet sacrifices women make along the way? Is it in the businesses we launch, the glass ceilings we crack, or the communities we uplift?
For women, success has never been a linear path. It is the sum of battles fought in boardrooms and classrooms, at kitchen and negotiating tables. It is the courage to push forward in a world that tells us to slow down. It is the persistence to demand a seat at the table… or build our own when none is offered.
Entrepreneurship is often framed as a game of strategy, and risk. But for women, it is also a game of endurance. Female entrepreneurs face higher barriers to funding – as in Europe, almost 40% of startup owners are women, yet companies founded by women received only 2.4% of the total venture capital funding – lower representation in leadership, with only 8% of CEOs and 24% of executives of the largest European listed companies being female, and greater scrutiny over their choices. Yet, when women build businesses, they don’t just create profit; they create opportunity.
And what about the female employees who work tirelessly to climb the corporate ladder, proving themselves in rooms where they are often the minority? While female participation in the workforce has grown in Malta, women continue to face a persistent gender pay gap. In fact, women in Malta still earn €158 less per month than men on average. This gap becomes even wider in high-paying industries like finance and insurance, where women take home nearly €600 less than their male counterparts each month.
What about the single mothers – the women who balance work and childcare, forced to make impossible choices every day between financial stability and being present for their children? Across Malta and beyond, many women step back from their careers, not because they want to, but because they have no other choice. Surprisingly, Malta has the highest share of inactive women due to caregiving responsibilities in the EU, with three out of every ten women between the ages of 15 and 64 being unable to participate in the workforce, largely due to family obligations.
Then there are the working mothers — the women who are told they must work as if they have no children and parent as if they have no job. They return from maternity leave expected to pick up where they left off, to prove they are just as dedicated, just as capable, just as ambitious. But why must ambition and motherhood be placed at odds with each other?
Lastly, but almost always overlooked, what about the young girls – those who take on a new challenge every day? Young girls in Malta and across the world are still funnelled into traditional career paths, still discouraged from stepping into industries like STEM, finance, or entrepreneurship. But every girl who dares to dream bigger, to study harder, to push past expectations – she is already building something powerful.
To build means to challenge. To build means to demand more – not just of ourselves, but of the systems that were never built for us in the first place.
So on this Women’s Day, let’s ask ourselves: Are we truly empowering women, or are we simply asking them to carry more? Are we celebrating their strength, or are we just applauding their ability to endure?
At JA Malta, we don’t just work with young entrepreneurs — we work with students, future employees, future leaders. We teach financial literacy so that women can make informed choices about their futures. We equip young girls with work-readiness skills, so they enter the workforce knowing they have the right skillset. We help build confidence in their ideas, their abilities, and their right to take up space in any industry they choose.
Because empowering women is not just about celebrating those who break barriers – it’s about ensuring that no woman has to fight so hard to be seen, or to be heard.
Women have always built. They build businesses, communities, families, legacies. But it is time that we stop asking them to do it alone, it is time we build a system that truly supports them.
