2026 Nuffield NZ Farming Scholarship. Apply by 17 August 2025. Read More...

Apply for 2026 Nuffield NZ Farming Scholarship by 17 August 2025. More details...

Daring to have it all.

Executive Summary

Worldwide, there is a scarcity of women in leadership (Sandberg, 2010). In many organizations, even at the lowest level women struggle to make up 50% of the workforce. This number decreases steadily as you get successively higher. Worldwide, only 3–4% of women reach CEO level (Herminia Ibarra, 2013). Despite key advancements in the workforce for women over the last few decades, women remain underrepresented in senior management and leadership roles.

As a 25 year old female within the next 10 years I have a decision to make.

Do I pursue a big career, and aim for a senior leadership position?

Do I start my family, and if so how long do I take off work?

Do I dare to have it all?

I would like to think that I could opt for option three and dare to have it all. However the statistics are concerning and therefore I have conducted this report to investigate the barriers to women in senior leadership positions with a focus of how you can successfully balance a career and children.

Daring to have it all – Regan Barkla

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