Persistent Challenges For NZ Women In The Career Pipeline

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Persistent Challenges For NZ Women In The Career Pipeline

NZ working women report the same barriers to mid-career advancement they did five years ago. In particular, over half experience some level of bias from working under male-defined norms and over 60% say they struggle with competing demands of work and life. That’s the conclusion of a fresh survey by Professionelle Foundation, run in time for International Women’s Day on March 8th, as compared to a similar 2007 survey.

In 2007, inhospitable corporate culture and exclusion from men’s informal networks topped the responses. Many comments also described the ‘struggle of the juggle’ that working women faced. However, both surveys reveal that working women want to help themselves and not rely on others: they know they need to strive for greater self-belief, less perfectionism, and more mutual support.

The recent rise in women directors in the NZX 100 has been a sign of real progress. Keeping up this positive momentum, however, depends on growing the number of women in the career pipeline. “Our surveys indicate that could be challenging,” says Galia BarHava-Monteith, co-founder of Professionelle, a charitable trust specialising in advancing women’s careers.

The findings indicate that NZ working women need support at both at an individual and organisation level to progress through the career pipeline. Professionelle already delivers online and offline career support directly to working women of all ages and stages. It has also engaged with selected organisations that are serious about retaining their highly skilled women through the mid-career stage. Simpson Grierson, the national law firm, has recently shown its commitment to this group by becoming Professionelle’s first corporate partner, receiving a customised programme aimed at the firm’s specific challenges.

ENDS

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