Zonta Science Award 2014

Rau rangatira mā, e kui mā, e koro mā, e huihui nei, tēnei aku mihi māhana ki a koutou.  Nau mai, haere mai rā ki Te Whare Kawana o Te Whanganui-a-Tara. 
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, warm greetings to you all, and welcome to Government House Wellington.

I specifically acknowledge: Her Excellency Virginia Benavides, Ambassador of the Philippines; Sir Peter Gluckman, Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister; Carol Beaumont MP; Lynn McKenzie, International President of Zonta; Dr Jilly Evans, principal sponsor of the Zonta Science Award; and Maureen Heine, District 16 Governor.  Tēnā koutou katoa.

It is a great pleasure to host this reception at Government House and to present the 2014 Zonta Science Award.

Let me start by acknowledging Lynn McKenzie’s achievement of being the first New Zealander to be appointed International President of Zonta.  

It is a testament to Lynn’s commitment and competence and the confidence Zontians have in her ability to advocate for women.  No doubt this has been a great opportunity to bring a New Zealand perspective to Zonta initiatives all around the world.

We all know that achieving equity for women remains a work in progress, whatever country one lives in. 

I thank Zontians for giving their time, energy and talents to progress this goal.  Your sense of responsibility to communities – local, national and international – is admirable. 

As long as some women are missing out on opportunities, their communities miss out, and neither benefit from the human potential that is neglected.  When every person has the chance to flourish, we all flourish.

Last year we celebrated 120 years of universal suffrage in New Zealand. 

We can be justly proud of the 1893 Electoral Act which made this the first self-governing country in the world where all women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections.  

New Zealand women had already blazed the trail for higher education.  In 1877, Kate Edger was the first woman in the British Empire to earn a BA; and in 1880, Helen Connon was the first woman in the British Empire to obtain an honours degree. 

These early pioneers studied in the humanities and law. 

Unfortunately, getting into the sciences was to prove more of a challenge, and for those who did, their experience often mirrored that of women scientists overseas, where public recognition was not always forthcoming – or was often belittling or inappropriate.

Just 50 years ago, when eminent British scientist Dorothy Hodgkin won the Nobel Prize for chemistry, the headline in the Daily Mail read “Oxford Housewife wins Nobel”. 

It’s good to know we have mostly moved on from such attitudes. 

In my lifetime, we have seen a quantum shift in peoples’ mind-sets, and especially of young women with regard to their career choices.  We and they know that higher education is more likely to deliver opportunities for advancement, higher incomes and life satisfaction.

Nonetheless, statistics show there is still some way to go to get greater representation of women in science, particularly when it comes to higher degrees.  

So there’s clearly a role for advocates in this space, and Zonta is to be congratulated for taking up the challenge back in 1988.

Zonta’s support for our best and brightest young women scientists at post-doctoral level helps them to take the next step at a critical point in their careers.  It gives visibility to women in science and gives students something to aspire to.

I understand this is the 13th Zonta Science Award. 

That means there are 12 women whose careers in science have been given a much-appreciated boost.  And after tonight there will be one more woman who will be grateful for the assistance Zonta has given, and gives, to women scientists.

Reading about the careers of the 12 winners to date reveals research of value to our primary industries; to medicine; and to our understanding of the environment, climate change and earthquake geology.

Their hard work and dedication echoes the inspiring words of Marie Curie:

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.

I am very much looking forward to acknowledging the person who has shown the perseverance, confidence and ability to win the 2014 Zonta Science Award, later this evening.

Kia ora huihui tātou katoa