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Time is running out to apply for the annual BPW Franklin Bursary Award.
BPW Franklin (Business and Professional Women) has been running the scholarship since 1987. It is given to women connected to the Franklin area to help continue their studies in a recognised university, polytechnic, or college in New Zealand.
Helen Baucke, president of BPW Franklin, a subsidiary of BPW NZ, describes the organisation as an advocacy and networking club that enhances the skills and experiences of its members concerning women’s and professional business issues.
Currently, BPW Franklin is fundraising for the BPW Franklin Bursary Award, to help women in the local area to help them in their studies.
Qualifications are not the only aspect considered, but candidates should have a past or present connection with the Franklin area. Baucke says that the bursary is designed to prepare winners for future tertiary education.
“We have applicants who might be changing jobs, or leaving school, and starting their qualifications for a career.
“We want to make sure that the women who are keen to embark on improving and educating themselves have everything they need to be able to do that.
“One of the things that we hope the bursary will do is to set them up for success in their studies.”
While huge strides have been made in the workplace, two areas that still need attention are the pay inequity gap between the genders and what is known as the ‘motherhood penalty.’ This is where women face lower pay and fewer job opportunities at work, which can cause a ripple effect affecting how much money they have for their retirement.
“What we are seeing is inequity when it comes to things like the motherhood penalty, where women are forced to take under-skilled or underpaid work in order to contribute to their family income or for various other reasons.
“It’s more about the career paths aspects of equity rather than ‘can this job be filled by either a man or a woman?’ This has a significant impact on women’s ability to retire with dignity, and women are overrepresented in more senior age groups regarding poverty and homelessness.
“The last census identified 57,000 women who are without a fixed abode, and this is less visible than those who might ‘sleep rough’ on the streets.
“They are much more likely to couch surf, sleep in cars, or stay in terrible situations, including abusive relationships. When these women have dependents, they are similarly at risk, of course.”
The International Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Organisation, or BPW International, was founded in 1930 by Lena Madesin Phillips, who recognised the need for women to continue the progress made during the women’s suffrage movement of the early 20th century.
It is now an international federation that has consultation status with the United Nations (UN). It has a long-standing reputation for standing up for women’s rights and equality.
In 1939, the BPW opened its first chapter in New Zealand and has since made valuable contributions internationally to women’s causes.
“New Zealand has consistently punched above our weight in these issues, in bringing issues to the international federation, to be adopted as policy, and therefore been taken to the UN,” Baucke says.
Applications for the BPW Franklin Bursary Award close on November 1.
