Guest speaker presentation at Tauranga Girls' College, Tauranga, New Zealand. Explored issues facing women in New Zealand and ways to be a woman of influence.
1. Wāhine toa:
Women of influence
Katrina McChesney
@krmcchesney
Tauranga Girls’ College
March 2017
2. Being female in NZ in 2017
and beyond
Facts
Achievements
Challenges
Opportunities
Being a wahine toa –
a woman of influence
What do you think?
3. Why me? Why you?
If not me, then who?
If not you, then who?
EMPOWERING
TOMORROW’S WOMEN
Respect ~ Manaakitanga
Participation ~ Mahi tahi
Pride ~ Mana motuhake
11. My experience:
Growing up female in NZ
Human Rights Acts 1977, 1993
Banned discrimination based on:
Gender
Sexual orientation
Pregnancy
Marital status
Family status
16. Being a wahine toa – a
woman of influence
Be informed
Notice automatic thoughts (your own
and others’)
Have a voice – get involved
17. Equal work for equal pay?
The gender pay gap in NZ
On average, men in NZ are paid 12%
more than women
This has not improved in over 10 years
0
20
40
60
80
100
Men Women
http://women.govt.nz/work-skills/income/gender-pay-gap
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/03/new-gender-pay-gap-research-finds-
unexplainable-factors-at-play.html
18. Equal work for equal pay?
The gender pay gap in NZ
In higher-paying fields / jobs, the gap
widens to 20%
http://women.govt.nz/work-skills/income/gender-pay-gap
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/03/new-gender-pay-gap-research-finds-
unexplainable-factors-at-play.html
0
20
40
60
80
100
Men Women
19. Equal work for equal pay?
The gender pay gap in NZ
CLAIM / BLAME:
Women are less educated
Women only work part time
Women work in lower-paying fields
Women take time out of the workforce
to have babies
http://women.govt.nz/work-skills/income/gender-pay-gap
http://thespinoff.co.nz/society/08-03-2017/no-more-excuses-why-your-attempts-to-deny-the-
gender-pay-gap-just-wont-wash/
20. Equal work for equal pay?
The gender pay gap in NZ
CLAIM / BLAME:
Women are less educated
Women only work part time
Women work in lower-paying fields
Women take time out of the workforce
to have babies
http://women.govt.nz/work-skills/income/gender-pay-gap
http://thespinoff.co.nz/society/08-03-2017/no-more-excuses-why-your-attempts-to-deny-the-
gender-pay-gap-just-wont-wash/
21. Equal work for equal pay?
The gender pay gap in NZ
Explainable
factors
20%
Conscious and
unconscious bias
80%
http://women.govt.nz/work-skills/income/gender-pay-gap
24. Equal work for equal pay
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/90046139/Alison-Mau-The-day-TVNZ-told-me-they-wouldn-t-
pay-me-as-much-as-Mike-Hosking
25. Equal work for equal pay
Sure, I said. Just
pay me what
you were
paying Mike.
… and then the
Head of News
laughed right
into my face.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/90046139/Alison-Mau-The-day-TVNZ-told-me-they-wouldn-t-
pay-me-as-much-as-Mike-Hosking
27. Equal opportunities
“When I went through vet school, many
years ago, it was dominated by men;
today it’s dominated by women.
That’s fine, but the problem is one woman
graduate is equivalent to two-fifths of a full-
time equivalent vet throughout her life
because she gets married and has a
family, which is normal.
So, though we’re graduating a lot of vets,
we’re getting a high fallout rate later on.”
http://www.ruralnewsgroup.co.nz/item/11200-massey-to-go-more-practical
30. Women in leadership
17%
% of female directors
across all NZX companies
NZ Institute of Directors / http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/322301/stalled-number-of-
female-directors-'shocking‘
31. Women in leadership
CEOs of the NZX top 50 companies
NZ Institute of Directors / http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/322301/stalled-number-of-
female-directors-'shocking‘
33. Violence against women
1 in 3 NZ women experience physical
and/or sexual violence from a partner in
their lifetime
If psychological / emotional abuse is also
included, this rises to 55% of NZ women.
Disabled women are twice as likely to
be victims of violence or abuse as other
women
http://areyouok.org.nz/family-violence/statistics/
https://nzfvc.org.nz/data-summaries/snapshot
41. On the other hand …
Video 4 – Books
Video 5 – Julia Gillard
https://www.oxfam.org.nz/what-we-do/issues/gender-equality/killer-facts
42. Being a wahine toa – a
woman of influence
Be informed
Notice automatic thoughts (your own
and others’)
➢ Check: What if the genders were
reversed?
Have a voice – get involved
➢ Speak up for others as well as yourself
https://www.oxfam.org.nz/what-we-do/issues/gender-equality/killer-facts
43. Being a wahine toa – a
woman of influence
Family
Friends
Education /
workplace
Community
National
Global
44. Closing words from a great
feminist
http://www.glamour.com/story/glamour-exclusive-president-barack-obama-says-this-is-what-
a-feminist-looks-like