Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest industry has pulled back the curtain on their diversity statistics to reveal a power gap between men and women — all while unveiling a new campaign to improve diversity in the industry.
Our Partners, Property Council, have recently commissioned an interesting and first-of-it’s-kind report on the gender diversity balance in Aotearoa New Zealand’s property sector. It’s designed to pulse-check the state of diversity in the property sector as well as drive awareness and provide insights for addressing industry issues.
The findings show that on average, the workplaces are made up of 41% women—a pleasing result considering a balanced gender representation is made up of 40% both male and female. However, this number narrows when we look at women’s positions in management, senior management and board levels: where they make up less than 30% of people in these roles.
Interestingly, this report opened up a refreshingly broad aperture to gain insights across a wide range of sub-sectors that are directly related to property: property investors, supplier to investors and professional services such as lawyers were considered in the data.
“As New Zealand’s largest industry, any positive shift we can make to the gender diversity balance is likely to have a significant impact,” Leonie Freeman, Property Council New Zealand Chief Executive.
The findings of this report and Property Council’s focus on building a workforce that reflects the diversity of Aotearoa but also of the future have been positively echoed by the council’s 24 founding partners.
John Dakin, CEO of Goodman, who are also Global Women and Property Council Partners adds: “I would encourage everyone to stop and think about the barriers to having greater diversity in our industry, a diversity that should reflect the communities we are creating. Consider your own bias, be it conscious or unconscious and we will create a far more vibrant and productive property sector.”
With the Property Council dedicated to continuing to measure and report on multiple facets of diversity in the future, we’re looking forward to seeing the change and momentum this inspires.
Access the full report HERE and read the insights from the Property Council HERE.