Panui October 2011

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Contents

Action on boards
From the Minister Making good progress
Focus on women and economy at APEC Summit
Women tradespeople needed for Christchurch re-build
Gender pay gap drops
Women graduates still trail male graduates over pay
Women on the move
1893 women’s suffrage petition available online
Suffrage Day celebrated at Parliament
In brief

Action on boards

‘Business leaders in New Zealand are realising it makes good sense to have women on their boards,’ says Rowena Phair, Ministry of Women’s Affairs Chief Executive.

‘We are at the tipping point of change. Attitudes are shifting and the evidence is showing a positive relationship between women on boards and better financial performance.’

"Research by Goldman Sachs shows there are significant gains to be made by broadening the sectors women work in, their seniority, and increasing the number of women in senior governance roles."

Several recent initiatives are showing the way for organisations.

The NZX has announced it will be consulting with its members on reporting on the diversity of their board members and senior management.

The Institute of Directors has also launched a mentoring programme to help women develop connections with top business leaders and gain the skills that will allow them to achieve board positions.

The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand has also launched a business plan, ‘Retention and Renewal of Women in Engineering’, to improve the number of women in engineering.

The current Chair of Telecom New Zealand, Wayne Boyd, has announced diversity was a key factor in the appointments to the boards of the two standalone companies resulting from Telecom’s structural separation (subject to shareholder approval).

Wayne said, at a time where there is a sharp focus on female participation at New Zealand’s board tables, it is particularly heartening that 50 percent of the Chorus board is female, including chair Sue Sheldon. If the demerger is approved by shareholders, the proposed Telecom board also has two new women joining its board: Justine Smyth and Maury Leyland.

Finally, research by Goldman Sachs shows there are significant gains to be made by broadening the sectors women work in, their seniority, and increasing the number of women in senior governance roles. Goldman Sachs identifies an increase of up to 10 percent GDP by adopting such measures.

‘These initiatives are forcing other companies to question their practices and ask if they are doing enough to address women in leadership and management positions,’ said Rowena.

The Prime Minister, Rt Hon John Key and the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Hon Hekia Parata were guest speakers at the ‘Enhancing New Zealand’s Leadership – women, productivity and our economy’, breakfast in Auckland in August. This event was hosted by the Trans-Tasman Business Circle and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

Speakers at the event included Australia and New Zealand Goldman Sachs Chairman Stephen Fitzgerald and NZX Ltd Chairman Andrew Harmos.

Stephen told guests that a proactive approach from the Government and business on closing the gender gap would not only provide benefits for organisations and women, it could significantly boost New Zealand’s economic performance.

Andrew spoke to guests about NZX’s consultation process with its members on reporting on the diversity of boards for publicly-listed companies. The proposed rule consultation will be part of NZX’s biannual rules review process in early 2012.

If the new rule is agreed to by the NZX members, there will be a requirement for publicly-listed companies to report on the number of female directors and senior managers in their companies.

Experience in other countries has shown that reporting on gender diversity can encourage companies to examine their own practices, and eliminate existing barriers to women reaching leadership positions.

At the function Minister of Women’s Affairs, Hon Hekia Parata applauded organisations that have already taken action and encouraged others to develop initiatives to encourage more women into leadership positions.

‘New Zealand businesses need to challenge themselves to lift the quality of their corporate governance. I am delighted to see that the NZX is encouraging diversity on boards. I expect that this will also see a focus on pipeline issues around women coming through the workforce, management and leadership,’ she said.

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs provides extensive advice for women interested in pursuing governance roles. For more information or to assess if you are ready for a governance role please visit www.mwa.govt.nz/women-on-boards.

• The percentage of women directors on the NZX top 100 listed companies is 9.3%.
• The number of NZX top 100 companies with no women directors is 57.
• The percentage of women on state sector boards and committees is 40.7%.
• The percentage of women in senior management roles in the top 100 NZX companies is 19%.
• The percentage of women in senior management roles in the public service is 40%.

From the Minister - Making good progress

Kia ora everyone.

It’s hard to believe spring is here and we are now in the last quarter of 2011!

We have had some great successes.

As a Government, we have implemented a number of initiatives over the last three years which have benefited New Zealand women. These have included investing more in education and health and employment assistance programmes, and changing the tax system which has seen the after-tax average wage increase two percent faster than inflation over the last year.

We have introduced Police Safety Orders which allow Police to remove an alleged violent person from the home for a period of up to five days. Over five thousand of these have been issued since their introduction in July of last year – and over 80 percent of these have been issued to protect women.

We have also made good progress on getting more women participating in the economy and into leadership roles.

The report from investment bank Goldman Sachs that says we could increase our GDP by ten percent by increasing women’s participation in the economy, made a number of recommendations of how the gender gap could be reduced. These included: investigating the career choice of girls, identifying emerging industries and working with employers to encourage more women into trades, many of which our Government is already leading.

We are starting to see change with New Zealand organisations developing new initiatives to progress women in leadership.

I recently attended the APEC Women and the Economy Summit in San Francisco, along with the USA’s Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, the Ambassador-at-large for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer and Under-Secretary-General and Executive General, UN Women, Michelle Bachelet.

Compared to many of the APEC economies New Zealand women are doing very well. At 9.6 percent, the gender pay gap is the lowest it has ever been.

But there is always more that can be done.

The recurring theme of the Summit was that a stable economy focused on growth was the best possible environment for women to realise their economic potential. It was great to see the approach our Government is taking to increasing the participation of women in the economy is the right one. Our Government is completely committed to lifting the performance of our economy and the contribution that women can make to that.

As I said during our Suffrage Day celebrations, New Zealand led the way in giving women the right to vote, let’s continue to lead the way for further change.

Ngā mihi

Hon Hekia Parata Minister of Women’s Affairs

Focus on women and economy at APEC Summit

A who’s who of female diplomats, government officials and business leaders from 21 APEC economies converged on San Francisco in September 2011 for a dialogue on fostering women’s economic empowerment.

New Zealand was represented at the APEC Women and the Economy Summit by the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Hon Hekia Parata and Ministry of Women’s Affairs’ Director, Policy, Joanna Gordon.

One of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs’ priority areas is to contribute to greater economic independence for women, by providing practical solutions that make better use of women’s skills. The dialogue at the summit provided an opportunity to show the progress New Zealand has made and to discuss potential solutions.

The Minister was the final speaker in a high level policy discussion on women and the economy, chaired by U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on the final day of the summit. Secretary Clinton told delegates: ‘when we liberate the economic potential of women we lift the performance of the economies of our communities and our nations’.

The Minister informed delegates that New Zealand is comparatively well advanced in helping women become fully engaged in the economy and it is committed to making more progress.

‘The summit showed all our economies what can be achieved when women are provided with the tools and the access they need to succeed. In New Zealand we have been working hard to get more women into leadership roles and increase women’s participation in the economy. We need to work together to find ways to increase women’s participation so we don’t miss out on the economic benefits greater diversity brings’, she said.

The three day Summit concluded with the adoption of the San Francisco Declaration, a commitment by all 21 APEC economies that they will take actions to realise the full potential of women, integrate them more fully into APEC economies, harness their talents, remove barriers that restrict women’s full economic participation and maximise their contributions towards economic growth.

This will be done by helping women get access to capital and markets, and increasing the capability and number of women in leadership roles. The declaration will be presented to the APEC leaders at their conference in Hawaii in November 2011.

For more information on APEC visit www.apec2011.gov/

A Goldman Sachs report shows how a reduction in barriers to female labour force participation would increase USA’s GDP by 9 percent, the Eurozone’s region’s by 13 percent, Japan’s by 16 percent and New Zealand’s by 10 percent.

Women tradespeople needed for Christchurch re-build

‘The re-build of Christchurch is an opportunity for more women to be involved in trades,’ Rowena Phair, Chief Executive of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs said after the launch of the Canterbury Women in Trades network in August.

‘Over the next few years Christchurch will experience an unprecedented demand for tradespeople. Now is the time to open young women’s eyes to the range of career opportunities.

‘By improving the number of women in trades we can reduce gender segregation in industries and support the economic independence of women, as well as support the rebuild in Christchurch,’ she said.

The New Zealand labour market is highly segregated – about half of all men and women work in occupations where 70 percent or more of workers in that occupation are the same gender. According to the 2006 census, only one percent of all builders, plumbers, electricians and mechanics were women, and in 2009 only 13 percent of engineers were women. Gender segregation in work is a key reason for the gender pay gap.

‘We are pleased to have launched the Canterbury Women in Trades Network. It is a way to support women already in trades, provide mentoring, and attract new women into careers they may not have considered,’ Rowena said.

Rowena noted that there have already been a large number of job losses in Christchurch for women. Last quarter, there were 7,400 job losses for women in the retail and accommodation sector in Canterbury, out of a national total of 9,000 job losses for women across the country.

‘On the positive side, construction jobs are on the increase. Some of the women who have lost jobs after the earthquake may want to consider entering a trade,’ said Rowena.

Ruth Brown, a guest at the launch, started her building business when she moved to Christchurch at the age of 56. Now aged 79, she is still building and has no plans to retire.

Ruth said that younger women entering the industry needed the support of a mentor, but starting out was never ‘going to be easy’. She said that ‘if you’re a minority, you have to be better than average to be accepted as average, and I think that goes for anything’. However she said ‘the rewards of the job made it worthwhile’.

‘What else could you do that you could fairly quickly own your own business and be your own boss, be responsible for your own work?’, she said. ‘I can work when and how I want – and people say thank you.’

The Canterbury Women in Trades network provides a space for tradeswomen to connect, share stories and support each other in their careers. This is the third network the Ministry of Women’s Affairs has helped to establish with networks already set up in Auckland and Wellington.

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs is focused on encouraging women to work in male-dominated occupations to reduce gender segregation and support greater economic independence for women.

Benefits for women and companies

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs recently surveyed a number of women working in trades to find out their views of trades as a career option. These women said they felt a sense of pride and achievement in the work they do, they can earn while they learn, and many had supportive employers.

Many of the women who were enjoying success in their jobs attributed this mostly to women who were in management or decision-making roles within their company. The women also believed that many women did not work in trades because they were not provided with information on trades as a career option.

The companies also found that having women were an asset to their companies. The employers who were interviewed said women working in a male-dominated industry mellowed the culture and benefited the workplace. They also said employing women gave their business a competitive advantage and the women they employed had excellent attention to detail, and good customer service skills.

An opinion commonly expressed by both tradeswomen and employers in the interviews was that trades had evolved. While heavy lifting and hard manual work was still a feature of some workplaces, the consensus was that health and safety requirements meant that the physical requirements of the job were manageable for women.

Gender pay gap drops

The New Zealand Income Survey (NZIS) shows that the gender pay gap has decreased from 10.6 percent to 9.6 percent in the last financial year. In the last three years the gender pay gap has trended down from 11.3 percent in 2009 to 9.6 in 2011.

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs uses the New Zealand Income Survey, which is run once a year (during the June quarter) as a supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey. The NZIS is used to calculate the official pay gap because it is the only regular survey to interview workers on their actual earnings. As a result, changes in men’s and women’s earnings can therefore be directly related to changes in individuals’ wages and salaries.

Women graduates still trail male graduates over pay

A recent Ministry of Education study has shown that female graduates are unlikely to earn the same as their male counterparts in the long-term and that there appears to be an unequal benefit to tertiary education between males and females.

This study looks at the relationship between young peoples’ tertiary education qualifications and their employment and earnings once they finish their tertiary study.

The study analysed the differences in income between men and women who left study at the end of 2003 and who graduated with different levels of tertiary qualifications.

The study confirmed that women earn less than men at all levels of qualification and this income gap increases over time. After four years women who qualified with a bachelor’s degree, for example, were earning almost 10 percent less than men who qualified with a bachelor’s degree.

The study found that even in certain professions where female bachelor graduates earned slightly more than males one year after graduation, things changed in the longer-term.

By the time graduates were working for four years the men were earning on average approximately $47,760 while the women were earning on average $43,380. The report’s author, Paul Mahoney said that it appeared that there is an unequal benefit to tertiary education between males and females.

When the study is broken down by profession, women working in the performing arts were the only ones to earn significantly more than their male counterparts – $1,400 a year. Those graduates in information systems earned only $10 more in earnings per annum than their male counterparts.

Examples where there were significant gaps after four years were in medical studies (women earned $6,560 less), lawyers (women earned $4,150 less), teachers (women earned $2,400 less) and communications and media professions (women earned $1,730 less).

Paul said that one of the reasons men earned more than women may be a link to the numbers of hours or weeks they work each year or the kinds of occupations and industries they work in. He said that future studies will look at the possible reasons for the differences.

The key findings from the report were:

• Post-study income appears to be influenced by variables associated with tertiary study, such as completion of qualifications, the level of study and the field of study. Earnings generally increase with the level of study and there is a premium for completing qualifications for both males and females.
• Even allowing for differences in labour market participation, men earn more than women after they have completed tertiary education.
• These differences persist over the course of employment, but women’s earnings increase less than males’ earnings over the four years post-study so that females earn less than males at all levels after four years.
• Females have a better return to tertiary education than males when measured by earnings premium over the national median earnings by gender, but this may be in part due to the low overall baseline wages of females compared to males.
• It is likely that labour market influences that have not been quantified in this study, such as industry and occupation worked in, also influence earnings differences between men and women after study. Future studies will make adjustments for these.
• The full report is available at www.educationcounts.govt.nz/ publications/tertiary_education

Women on the move

Barrister Harete Hipango has been appointed as an additional member of the Legal Aid Tribunal.

Auckland Judge Jan Marie Doogue has been appointed the new Chief District Court Judge.

Former Wellington mayor Kerry Prendergast has been appointed as Chair of the New Zealand Tourism Board.

Sarah McGrath has been appointed to the Ministerial Inquiry into the operation of fishing vessels, including foreign charter vessels (FCV), in New Zealand's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters.

Lesley Longstone has been appointed Chief Executive and Secretary for Education, Ministry for Education.

Carolyn Tremain has been appointed Chief Executive and Comptroller of Customs, New Zealand Customs Service.

Lyn Wood, chair of the Australian Financial Reporting Council (FRC), has been appointed to the External Reporting Board (XRB).

Marion Cowden has been appointed deputy chair of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority Board. Janet Carson and Liz Tanielu have also been appointed to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority Board.

Subject to shareholder approval of Telecom’s separation, Sue Sheldon has been appointed chair of Chorus and will joined by Anne Urlwin and Prue Flacks, and Justine Smyth and Maury Leyland will be new directors on the Telecom board.

Anne Carter has been appointed to the Local Government Commission.

Karen Thomas has been appointed as Chief Executive of the Society of Local Government Managers (SOLGM).

1893 women’s suffrage petition available online

Did one of your ancestors sign the historic 1893 petition calling for women’s right to vote? If so, you can now search for their names online and contribute information about them.

To mark Women’s Suffrage Day on 19 September 2011, Manatū Taonga/Ministry for Culture and Heritage has made the names and address details of the women who signed the petition available as a searchable database on the NZHistory website so New Zealanders can search for family ties to this historic event.

‘Women’s suffrage is rightly celebrated as a great milestone in New Zealand history,’ says Neill Atkinson, Chief Historian at Manatū Taonga.

When the governor signed a new Electoral Act into law on 19 September 1893, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world to grant all women the right to vote in parliamentary elections. In most other democracies – notably Britain and the United States – women couldn’t vote until after the First World War.

‘New Zealand’s world leadership in women’s suffrage has become part of our national identity,’ says Neill.

That achievement was the result of years of effort by suffrage campaigners. In 1891, 1892 and 1893 they compiled a series of massive petitions calling on Parliament to grant the vote to women. The biggest of them all, submitted on 28 July 1893, was signed by ‘Mary J. Carpenter and 25,519 others’ – about one in five New Zealand women at the time.

The petition contains the signatures of many leading suffragists and feminists, including Kate Sheppard, Marion Hatton, Rachel Reynolds, Ada Wells, Tailoresses’ Union leader Harriet Morison, writer Edith Grossman, and sisters Christina and Stella Henderson (whose younger sister, Elizabeth, then too young to sign, would later achieve fame as New Zealand’s first woman MP – under her married name, McCombs).

This huge roll of names is now preserved at Archives New Zealand, alongside the Treaty of Waitangi. The international significance of both documents has been recognised by their inclusion on the UNESCO Memory of the World register of documentary heritage.

Manatū Taonga worked with Archives New Zealand and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to make the petition available online. The public can help preserve and contribute to our rich history by accessing the database, which contains information on more than 24,000 New Zealand women.

How to search for your relatives

To search the petition visit: www.nzhistory. net.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/petition

You can search by name or location, arrange the database according to town, city or region, and add your own comments (or email information to the NZHistory team at: info@nzhistory.net.nz ).

To learn more about the history of women and the vote in New Zealand visit: www. nzhistory.net.nz/politics/womens-suffrage.

Suffrage Day celebrated at Parliament

Making positive change for women requires strong beliefs, collective actions and learning from those who have gone before.

These were the messages guests heard at a breakfast celebration for Suffrage Day 2011 at Parliament. Keynote speakers Vanisa Dhiru and Jill Campbell spoke about their perspectives on Suffrage Day and what needs to be done to continue progress for women.

Vanisa Dhiru is CEO of Volunteering New Zealand and President of YWCA Greater Wellington. Vanisa spoke about the need for a plan to achieve a goal and working collectively with people you know to make a difference. She also spoke about taking action on issues you believe in to make a difference to New Zealand society.

Jill Campbell, a Year 12 student at Wellington Girls’ College, spoke about the parallels of women worldwide as they have sought for equality and representation. Her final words were: ‘believe in what you can do, believe in your dreams and have people around you who can mentor you’.

The Minister of Women’s Affairs, Hon Hekia Parata’s message to guests was ‘this Suffrage Day, let’s celebrate the contribution made by our suffragists and in remembering the action they took to champion change, take time to think about our own contribution to the future of our country’.

Suffrage Day also on Twitter and Facebook

This year, for the first time, Suffrage Day has been celebrated in social media via Facebook and Twitter. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs, along with the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and Archives New Zealand have used Facebook and Twitter to post information, link to useful and educational resources, and encourage online discussions on New Zealand women and the vote. Check out the pages, join us online and encourage everyone you know to join too! Search for “NZ Women and the Vote”.

In brief

Snively to lead Agri Women’s Trust

Suzanne Snively has been appointed chairperson of the Agri Women’s Development Trust, a trust to harness the untapped potential and talent of rural women and use it to address the challenges facing rural business and communities.

The trust has just completed its first year of operation and its inaugural 10-month Escalator programme to develop leadership and governance skills for rural women. In July 2011 eleven women graduated after successfully completing the programme.

Executive Director Lindy Nelson said the programme aims to develop future leaders by giving them the skills and capability to govern and lead rural organisations and communities.

‘It addresses barriers rural women face in taking their skills to the next level and supports personal and professional development in a continuous way’, she said.

Graduates develop a five-year plan for their leadership or governance aspirations and receive ongoing support through involvement with their cohort, the trust and the mentor. Further information is available at www.awdt.org.nz.

New support for ethnic women in Dunedin

A new ethnic women’s support service will begin operating in Dunedin from October. Shakti Community Council founder Farida Sultana has secured a room in the Dunedin Community House to operate as a drop-in centre on a part-time basis from the first week in October.

The Shakti Community Council’s mission is to facilitate and ensure good health and well-being of New Zealand's migrant and refugee communities. It runs four women’s refuges, drop-in centres and a 24-hour crisis line for ethnic women in New Zealand.

Farida began looking for a centre after she received reports from social agencies about the increasing demand for the service in Dunedin and after the organisation’s South Island base was destroyed in the Christchurch earthquakes.

A co-ordinator has been appointed and the centre will be run by women from Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Farida is a strong advocate against all forms of violence and cultural and religious oppression against women. She has been awarded a QSM for her work, and written the book Purple Dandelion on her life. For more information visit www.shakti.org.nz

Women help the most

Women are most likely to help someone who is experiencing family violence, research by the It’s not OK Campaign shows. In 2010 the Campaign launched its third set of TV ads with the message It is OK to Help. The ads featured cardboard cut-outs to show how people often know or suspect violence is happening but don’t know how to help.

Research shows that more people reported taking action after seeing the ads, and that women tend to be the helpers. The ads also changed the way New Zealanders perceived victims of family violence.

‘The ads took away the Once Were Warriors stereotype. People understood it can happen to anyone – maybe your sister or your neighbour,’ Campaign spokesperson Trish Green said.

People said their view changed from blaming the victim (if it’s that bad she’d do something about it) to understanding how hard it is to reach out (she’s trapped, somebody has to reach out to her).

Overall more people have reported taking action as a result of the Campaign ads than ever before, particularly Māori and Pacific women and Pacific men.

In all 44 percent of Māori and 55 percent of Pacific people who saw the ads took action as a result. These included: obtaining information about family violence, talking to friends/family they were worried about, calling the 0800 number or contacting an organisation, visiting the "Are You OK" website or taking part in a community event.

The It’s not OK Campaign was launched four years ago in September 2007, starting a national conversation about family violence. For more information visit www.areyouok.org.nz

White Ribbon Day 2011

This year’s White Ribbon Day is Friday 25 November. White Ribbon offers men the opportunity to be part of the solution to end violence against women. Violence is endemic within New Zealand. One in three women are victims of violence from a partner, while on average fourteen women are killed each year by a member of their own family.

White Ribbon is a campaign led by men who condemn violence against women and take action. You can help effect change by supporting White Ribbon. Wearing a white ribbon is a personal pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women. In 2011 the campaign will be bringing the White Ribbon Ride to over 80 towns throughout New Zealand. For more information visit www.whiteribbon.org.nz or join White Ribbon on Facebook.