INTOUCH: NZ Women Executives On The Rise

Women in business in New Zealand are doing better than their counterparts in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries in Western Europe, including Scandinavia.
The latest findings from accounting and business advisers Grant Thornton’s International Business Report survey show that the average proportion of women in the senior management of businesses in New Zealand is 27 percent.
And 70 percent of New Zealand companies have between one and three women participating in senior management. In some cases there are more than three women executives per business.
Grant Thornton’s business advisory services director based in Auckland, Pam Newlove, welcomed the news.
“Last year, the average figure for women in senior management in New Zealand was 24 percent, so it’s great to see the percentage on the rise. It is also significant that New Zealand is ahead of countries such as Australia (23 percent), the United Kingdom (21 percent) and the United States (20 percent).
“The average for the European Union is only 20 percent.”
Newlove said the global average of 24 percent had been boosted by some particular countries, among them traditionally high league leader the Philippines (47 percent), Russia (42 percent) and Thailand (38 percent).
“Women in the Philippines have well and truly broken the glass ceiling and it is extremely rare to encounter an all-male management team there,” she said. “In New Zealand, that is also the case in more than two-thirds of businesses, and it seems only matter of time before 75 percent or more of New Zealand businesses have between one and three women in their executive ranks.
“The issue beyond that will be how many of them will be at the top of the tree as chief executives, and whether the number on boards of directors will improve.”