An examination of how women leaders are perceived, and how they should act in response. Many feel that women are not socialised to compete in male-dominated areas, and must learn to behave as successful men do. However this creates a dilemma since women are evaluated by different (and double) standards - they may appear to be competent, or likeable, but seldom both. The author warns that focusing too much on one's image undermines their leadership purpose. She advises women leaders to develop an understanding of how gender shapes perception in their field, to maintain clarity of purpose when trying to deliver their message, and to dare to be themselves. 

Commissioned by the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC), this report is the first analysis of women's representation in New Zealand sports since 1994. The issue of women's representation was highlighted throughout the 1990s, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) adopted a proposal in 1996 which set a target of 20 percent female representation on individual sports boards by 2005.Undertaken in 2007, this study examined women's participation at the policy-making, management and national coaching levels. It found that 27 percent of board roles in New Zealand were held by women, which constituted no change from 1994. Ten boards had no women members, and 50 percent were below IOC's threshold. There were far fewer national development boards for women than in 1994, and most board had fewer women members than the proportion of women players of the sport. Men were more likely than women to be paid coaches of both male and female sportspeople. Twenty-six percent of respondents believed women met more barriers to advancement than men, with lack on mentors and role models, career break for domestic reasons, low confidence, lack of childcare and unconscious bias being the main reasons cited.The report recommends the NZOC pursue development of mentoring programmes, confidence-building strategies for high-achieving women, and social marketing to boards about the benefits of gender diversity. 

This report on diversity statistics within the Public Service was prepared by the State Services Commission, and focuses primarily on diversity in senior management.The Commission set targets in 1997 which it has yet to achieve, but progress has been made. The report presents trend analysis of employment data from 2001 to 2010, a literature review of international research on diversity in the public and private sectors, and qualitative data from interviews with Chief Executives and senior managers within the sector. Women comprise 59.7 percent of the public sector workforce, and 39.8 percent of senior management, a significant increase from 2001 statistics and much higher than the private sector's figure of 19 percent.The report highlights international findings that diversity has been correlated with improved performance at the national, organisational and team levels, and sets out four features of sustainable gender diversity in the public sector. Barriers to reaching targets are identified as the difficulty of achieving work-life balance, stereotyped beliefs, and a lack of visible role models. The interviewees were unanimously behind achieving diversity targets but expressed concern over slow progress, and some felt the situation might be getting worse; they identified the issue of "like begetting like" in terms of senior role placement, and the long tenure of senior roles meaning that initiatives take a long time to yield results. An appendix provides diversity statistics by agency. 

This research paper outlines challenges currently faced by the accounting sector in New Zealand, in terms of an emerging skills shortage at the senior chartered accountant level, and a workforce that is increasingly female. Twelve firms of various sizes were consulted to determine the prevalence of flexible work practices. The study found that while a majority of staff were female, a majority of partners and associates were men. Flexible working arrangements were used sparingly in many firms, and seen by many as being exclusively for working mothers. Working long hours is the norm at partner level, a status quo which is believed to be necessary for profitability; however the study identified that some of the firms which most utilised flexible work practices were amongst the most profitable. A discussion of the benefits to be gained from adoption of flexible arrangements is included, as are case studies of "success story" companies and an appendix defining workplace flexibility and associated terms.