Women are under-represented in key areas in workplaces and, in some, their participation is sliding backwards, a Human Rights Commission report says.
The biennial New Zealand Census of Women's Participation 2010, published today, tracks progress for women across the corporate and private sectors at governance and management levels.
According to the report,32 per cent of the Members of Parliament are women, 30 per cent of Cabinet, 72 per cent of teachers and 47 per cent of school principals. There are only three female editors out of 26 in the country's news organisations, 26 per cent of the country's judges are women, as are 29 per cent of the New Zealand Police.
Although 59 per cent of the workers in public service are women, only six out of 34 public service departments had a woman chief executive this year. The report identifies a 15.4 per cent gender pay gap in the public service, which is greater than the total labour force gender pay gap of 13 per cent.
Equal Opportunities Commissioner Judy McGregor said there was value in "knowing and showing" how public service departments were responding.
"The public service has an opportunity to lead the way with pay and employment equity, but the results are very disappointing," Dr McGregor said.
The Department of Corrections was the only department where women in management positions was proportional to the staff. And universities are also making steady progress in addressing the gender imbalance. Click here for the full report.
