METRONEWS
© New Zealand Broadcasting School 2025

by New Zealand Broadcasting School students

Aotearoa is a leader in gender equality - yet more can be done

Politics

Reuben Smith
kate-sheppard-memorial
The Kate Sheppard Memorial in Central Christchurch - Sheppard led NZ to become the first country to give women the right to vote.  Reuben Smith/NZBS

New Zealand has placed second equal, with a score of 80, in the Global Reykjavík Index for Leadership in 2025.

The Index, named after the capital of its leading country, Iceland, is set up by research agency Verian. It surveys people in more than 40 countries worldwide to measure how women and men are perceived in terms of their suitability for leadership. A score of 100 would mean both women and men would be perceived as being suited for leadership roles.

reykjavik index country2
2025's Reykjavík Index per country Verian

The Netherlands is tied with NZ for second place, while the UK is next with a score of 74. The average score for all G7 countries is 68.

 

Kathryn Robinson, Head of Behavioural Insights for Verian New Zealand, says we should be proud of the achievement.

 

"Particularly with our long history of women's rights, I think it's very heartening to see that New Zealand does very well when it comes to perceptions of gender equality," she says.

 

Although, this year's index findings show a continuing decline in gender equality in leadership, and Robinson says Aotearoa is not safe from this decline.

 

 

 

"Most people believe that progress is always linear and we're always striving to greater equality. What the index shows is this is not the case at the moment."
Kathryn Robinson

Results found younger men were significantly more prejudiced towards women in leadership than any other demographic. Robinson says they are getting less equitable in their views.

 

"We can't have this conversation without mentioning the influence of the 'manosphere' and social media influencers, the Andrew Tates and Jordan Petersons of this world," Robinson says.

 

"They, in many ways, are a symptom of these big trends we're seeing."

"When you look at some of the big macro trends which are going on within society globally and coming into New Zealand, I think we're starting to see some of the impacts there."
Kathryn Robinson
Reykjavik-Index-by-gender
42% of young men believe gender equality has gone too far Verian

The global decline in the index's scores has been continuing down for around four years. Robinson says she is not expecting it to go up while these trends remain.

 

However, she says it's not all doom and gloom, as New Zealand is still much healthier than other countries.

 

Robinson hopes Aotearoa will continue to be a shining light for gender equality around the world.