Women missing from boards

Telecom chief executive Theresa Gattung is one of only a handful of women to control a large company. Picture / Simon Baker

Women make up 41 per cent of the board members of public bodies, compared with just 16 per cent in private companies.

The figures come from the Government's Nominations Service, a database of potential female board members for state entities such as Radio New Zealand, Television New Zealand, the Lotteries Commission and New Zealand Post.

The Nominations Service is run by the Ministry of Women's Affairs and aims to deepen the board-member talent pool. Its goal is that women form 50 per cent of statutory board members by 2010.

Although state bodies are bound by an equality-conscious State Sector Act, and entities with board vacancies have to notify ministries such as Women's Affairs, they are not obliged to choose someone from the database.

"It's good to see that the number of women on boards is increasing," said Philippa Reed, chief executive of the Equal Employment Opportunities Trust, "but there is still a long way to go to see the talent which competent, experienced women in business represent reflected in the make-up of boards - particularly in the private sector".

Dr Reed said business leaders such as Westpac's Ann Sherry and Telecom's Theresa Gattung proved women had the experience and talent to lead.

Releasing the stocktake, Women's Affairs Minister Lianne Dalziel said women made up just 16 per cent of board members of companies listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and New Zealand Alternative Market.

The figures came from the New Zealand Census of Women's Participation in Governance and Professional Life, compiled in 2004 by the Human Rights Commission and Massey University's Centre for Women and Leadership.

Ms Dalziel said the problem with male-stacked boards was that they tended to gravitate towards "people they already know and are linked to" .

This risked promoting narrow thinking, a situation she suggested had contributed to high-profile corporate collapses.