University of Auckland Business School has established a chair for women in entrepreneurship with the help of business leader Theresa Gattung.
Theresa Gattung. Photo: Supplied
Gattung, who once led Telecom, is gifting the university at least $2.5 million over the next 10 years to foster entrepreneurial women and equip graduates with the business skills required for success.
"Improving women's economic empowerment is crucial to gender equality, a goal that constantly needs championing," Gattung said, adding she wanted to make New Zealand the best place to do business, particularly for women.
"I see this chair as proving another arm of support for women's business empowerment. Women need to know how to launch a business, how to read a balance sheet, and what venture capital is and how to access it."
New Zealand was already seen as an outperformer in fostering women in business, regarded for offering the best conditions for women entrepreneurs in a global survey by Mastercard.
Mastercard's 2017 index of women entrepreneurs ranked New Zealand first in 10 markets, ahead of Canada, the United States and Sweden, with Australia in seventh place.
"On some measures that did show that New Zealand were doing very well but on many on many measures that showed exactly the opposite," Gattung said.
"And even if New Zealand is among the best in the world, it's a long way from gender equity for women in business and woman is an entrepreneur."
The chair will be a hub for postgraduate research aimed at helping women succeed, as well as running networks and mentoring programmes, and acting as an incubator for collaboration.
Gattung also hoped to be involved in lecturing and mentoring to impart some of what she learned during her years in business
"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," Dean of the University of Auckland Business School professor Susan Watson said.