CareerMum offers a hub of knowledge to broaden perspectives about gender diversity, and to support businesses to develop a comprehensive gender diversity strategy.
Media coverage on gender equality has long focused on the number of women in senior and governance roles. These are two important measures that indicate how we are progressing with gender equality. However, they should not be the only measures we look at, and neither should they become the sole focus of a gender diversity strategy.
Why? Because a narrow focus is likely to contribute to two concerning trends:
- Declining fertility rate: statistics show that educated women (with a Bachelor’s degree or higher) are having fewer children, and more are remaining childless as they increasingly choose their career ahead of starting a family.
- Leaking talent: Many women are dropping out of the workforce after having children; many others work part-time hours and/or take a step back in their career. Supporting and encouraging women to resume and grow their career is key to optimising talent, and to ensuring a healthy pipeline of women progressing to senior roles.
The business and economic benefits of gender diversity have been widely reported, yet New Zealand has made little progress in the past eight years. The Global Gender Gap report for 2016 scores us at 0.765 (76.5 percent) parity for ‘economic participation and opportunity’, and 0.390 for political participation. The Randstad Workmonitor report for Q3 2016 placed New Zealand in 27th position out of 33 countries in a survey on gender equality in the workplace.
Businesses, as well as the New Zealand government, have an important role to play in advancing our progress.
The following quick links provide a great starting point for businesses looking for support and insight on gender diversity.
- How and why forward-looking businesses are prioritising gender diversity – a look at the business and economic benefits of gender diversity, and a snapshot of the tactics and techniques used by well-known businesses.
- Gender equality in the workplace – 3 crucial principles for achieving breakthrough
- Career or family? A predicament for all New Zealanders – a look at some of the emerging trends as a result of our narrow focus towards gender equality, and what businesses can do to overturn these trends.
- Storyboard – key statistics to read at a glance, which provide considerations for businesses
- Research articles – a selection of third party reports and articles to support businesses on topics such as diversity and workplace flexibility.
- Workplace gender equality – key performance indicators – statistics to give us a comprehensive view of how New Zealand is progressing with workplace gender equality.
Share your experiences
CareerMum is keen to hear from businesses that are proactively supporting gender equality in the workplace. Get in touch to share your stories, thoughts and feedback.
