Career minorities

While I have posted on this before (here), it is probably worth restating. New Zealand is made up of a lot of minority groups:

• 15% Maori; 12% Asian, 7% Pasifika and the remainder Pakeha (Statistics NZ, 2013)
• 51% female and 49% male (Statistics NZ, 2013)
• 18% with a bachelor's degree or higher from a range of disciplines; 17% with diplomas or certificates (this may include trades); 30% with a secondary qualification; 19% with no quals; and 17% that doesn't seem to be counted anywhere but may be tradespeople if they are not in the cert/dip group (Statistics NZ, 2013)
• a range of socio-economic backgrounds with 6% in Socio-economic status 1 (the 'upper' class); 6% in 2; 28% in 3; 21% in 4; 19% in 5 and 20% in 6 (Statistics NZ, 2006a)
• 25% born overseas, 75% born in New Zealand (Statistics NZ, 2013)
• Ages with 50% over 42 years of age and 50% under 42; broken down into 18% 15-24, 41% 25-44, 38% 45-64, 8% 65+ (EEO Trust, 2012)
• 16% with differing disabilities (Statistics NZ, 2006b).

When it comes to careers, women - who are a majority: a 'major minority' (Statistics NZ, 2013) - do not tend to identify with mathematics or science. The lack of interest - identification - with these subjects appear to be a key driver in the limited entry of women into the engineering field. In America, women make up "45% of the work force, yet only 16% of scientists and engineers" (Osborn & Zunker, 2016, p. 69; Betz, 1997). These statistics seem to be similar in New Zealand, along with Maori and Pasifika peoples also being very under-represented in science and engineering.

Where New Zealand is different to the US is that 60% of the law graduates in Aotearoa are women (New Zealand Law Society, 2020), and 45% of doctors (Medical Council of New Zealand, 2017). Doctors of Maori ethnicity are also increasing, with 16% of graduates identifying as Maori, up almost 4% on 2016. Further, women doctors are expected to outnumber men in 2015 (Medical Council of New Zealand, 2017).

There is some shift happening. Long may that last :-)


Sam

References:

• Betz, N. E., & Hackett, G. (1997). Applications of self-efficacy theory to the career assessment of women. Journal of Career Assessment, 5(4), 383-402. https://doi.org/10.1177/106907279700500402
• EEO Trust (2012). Workforce Demographic Trends. http://www.eeotrust.org.nz/content/docs/reports/FINAL%20Workforce%20Demographic%20Trends%202012.doc
• Medical Council of New Zealand (2017). The New Zealand Medical Workforce in 2017. https://www.mcnz.org.nz/assets/Publications/Workforce-Survey/c3f49fa2d2/Workforce-Survey-Report-2017.pdf
• New Zealand Law Society (2020). By the numbers. https://www.lawsociety.org.nz/law-society-services/women-in-the-legal-profession/by-the-numbers#:~:text=Over%2060%25%20of%20law%20graduates,or%20directors%20in%20those%20firms
• Osborn, D. S., & Zunker, V. G. (2016). Using Assessment Results for Career Development (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.
• Statistics NZ (2013). New Zealand Census 2013. http://archive.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-about-national-highlights/cultural-diversity.aspx
• Statistics NZ (2006a). New Zealand socio-economic index 2006. http://archive.stats.govt.nz/~/media/Statistics/surveys-and-methods/methods/research-papers/nz-socio-economic-index-2006/nz-socio-economic-index-2006.pdf
• Statistics NZ (2006b). Disability Status By Place of Residence, Age Group, Sex and Ethnic Group, 2006. http://nzdotstat.stats.govt.nz/wbos/modalexports.aspx?exporttype=excel&FisrtDataPointIndexPerPage=&SubSessionId=6b20dd2f-aa09-44f4-9566-8f580ab9cc35&Random=0.7374431257710761