Women continue to hold half of public sector board and committee roles, according to the 2025 stocktake of gender and ethnic diversity released today.
Minister for Women, Nicola Grigg said the evidence is clear that balanced boards lead to better outcomes and the input of women is vital to New Zealand’s productivity, growth and resilience.
“It is encouraging that women’s representation on public sector boards has remained above 50% again this year,” Ms Grigg says.
“We need to keep building that momentum by strengthening the pipeline of women ready for board roles through the refreshed governance database BoardConnector. The database now includes more than 1,100 women seeking board opportunities, and half of those are at an experienced level.”
The annual stocktake shows women hold 50.2% of public sector board and committee roles, marking the sixth consecutive year women’s representation has remained above the Government’s 50% target.
Women also hold 43.8% of board chair roles, significantly higher than the 31.7% recorded in 2015 when chair data was first collected.
“There’s no shortage of skilled, qualified women ready to contribute in the boardroom. We’re building on that by encouraging more women to register with BoardConnector, to further broaden the talent pipeline and the range of skills available,” the Minister said.
“We’re working with both the public and private sectors on opportunities to support women in governance and ensure that appointing agencies have strong candidates. This includes partnering with the Institute of Directors, organisations, and leadership services that are committed to supporting board opportunities for women.”
