The University of Auckland Business School is growing the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs through two trailblazing initiatives: He Ira Wāhine – the Women’s Mentoring Programme and the Aotearoa Centre for Enterprising Women.
He Ira Wāhine – the Women’s Mentoring Programme at the Business School
The Women’s Mentoring Programme was set up in 2011, spearheaded by then executive-in-residence, Cecilia Tarrant, in a bid to address the lack of women at senior levels in the corporate world, providing an opportunity for the businesswomen of tomorrow to learn from the successful businesswomen of today.
“It’s about making sure that when women leave this university, they have some of those skills that can take years to acquire without mentorship,” Tarrant said in 2021, when she took on the trailblazing role as the university’s first female chancellor.
Every year, the programme matches between 70 and 80 highly motivated and engaged business students with a diverse range of women working in business for a six-month mentoring programme, which includes monthly events and discussion topics, as well as one-to-one mentoring meetings.
Over the last 13 years, more than 900 students have been through the programme, with some of the earliest mentees now beginning to return as mentors. The success of the initiative has led to the creation of a similar mentoring programme within the Faculty of Law.
If you’re interested in getting involved as a mentor, find out more at: auckland.ac.nz/business/wmp
The Aotearoa Centre for Enterprising Women
Find out more about the Aotearoa Centre for Enterprising Women: enterprisingwomen.ac.nz
The University of Auckland Business School is also home to the Aotearoa Centre for Enterprising Women. The centre launched in 2022, and is led by Professor Christine Woods, the inaugural Theresa Gattung Chair for Women in Entrepreneurship, a role funded by leading businessperson and former head of Telecom New Zealand, Theresa Gattung.
Gattung has gifted the University at least $2.5 million over 10 years, and her support is driven by a desire to help make New Zealand the best place to do business, particularly for women.
Business School dean, Professor Susan Watson says providing women with an opportunity to engage with entrepreneurship – and the mindset and skills that accompany that – is one way of addressing current disparities in women’s business ownership, leadership, and representation in governance roles in the business world.
