KEY POINTS:
There is a huge gender imbalance, in favour of women, when it comes to having a tertiary qualification - and a researcher said New Zealand should look to immigration to correct the gender imbalance in professions such as teachers and doctors.
Speaking on the topic of "tertiary education and missing men" yesterday, Paul Callister of Victoria University's Institute of Policy Studies said at an immigration conference in Wellington that while about 38 per cent of New Zealand women had tertiary education, only 28 per cent of men finished university.
He said the result now was that there were not enough males becoming doctors and teachers here.
He suggested that New Zealand could look to immigration to correct the problems that arise from this and said some models to look at included Sweden, Singapore or even the New York to help generate gender equality in jobs and professions.
Meanwhile, participants at the conference "Pathways, Circuits and Crossroads" were also told that tax could shape up to become a major issue with new immigrants in the coming elections, as a new survey found the tax system was what they disliked most about the country.
Presenting the results of Statistics New Zealand's Longitudinal Immigration Survey (LisNZ), Department of Labour's Manuila Tausi said 35.8 per cent said high tax rates and finding the tax system difficult to understand were what they hated most about their adopted country.
The conference finishes today, with academics and researchers discussing Pacific migration and developments in Pacific nations.
