We are delighted to get behind the Diversity Agenda – an industry-wide campaign that is galvanising scores of Kiwi companies around one common goal: 20 percent more women engineers and architects by 2021.

The campaign will address critical issues like retaining and promoting women to leadership roles and ensuring pay equity.

The Diversity Agenda started as a collaboration between Engineering New Zealand, the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) and the Association of Consulting Engineers (ACENZ). It already has more than 50 other organisations signed up as Founding Partners and Change Makers.

Our board of Director’s believe that it is critically important for leaders in the industry to collectively commit to the campaign for change.

There are so many good reasons to change the status quo. Not only do we want a more gender-balanced workforce and greater diversity of thought, but it also makes good financial sense to do so. Research shows that companies that had more women on staff were 15 percent more likely to financially outperform their industry, while those that had women on their boards were 26 percent more profitable than those that had all male boards.

At Stiles and Hooker Ltd, we’re not only lending our voice to the cause, but we’re committed to real, actionable change. We plan to maintain our gender balanced workforce and encourage more Women into Engineering & Architecture by supporting them and guiding them from a young age as we have some of our staff who are “Wonder Project” ambassadors who visit schools and help guide students along the right path towards engineering related Careers.

The Diversity Agenda works by getting organisations to commit to adopting more inclusive practices. It’s backed up by a hard-hitting social media campaign featuring the stories of women working in architecture and engineering.