About the programme

Girls Mean Business (GMB) is an entrepreneurial leadership initiative which aims to introduce Year 7 and 8 girls to the world of business and entrepreneurship in an engaging environment. Our mission is to empower the next generation of women in the workforce by inspiring young minds. Through our programme, we provide these students with the skills to achieve personal growth, economic independence, and hopefully a brighter future.

We firmly believe that every girl should have the opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship, regardless of their background or circumstances. Developed by Professor Christine Woods, GMB has been successfully implemented for some years in Auckland schools, including Manurewa Intermediate School. Now the initiative is being led by undergraduate students, who have formed a Girls Mean Business student club.

What does Girls Mean Business offer?

GMB encompasses a variety of programmes in which groups of girls are introduced to the world of business and entrepreneurship and are taught basic financial literacy skills. They are given the opportunity to apply these new skills and create their very own business in a competitive environment.

Programmes range from a single full day; two-day holiday programmes; or after-school programmes spanning several weeks. The two-day programme and after-school programme consist of the same number of hours over different periods and cover similar content. This includes the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, including idea generation, business planning, marketing and financial management, while providing students with mentors for the duration of the programme.

We actively engage with schools across Auckland in order to reach girls from diverse backgrounds, with a focus on lower decile schools so that we can address financial literacy disparities within these communities and create pathways for economic independence. Our aim is to expand across Aotearoa with online as well as in-person programmes.

Why focus on girls when everyone can benefit from being entrepreneurial?

While we say “Girls can do anything”, the reality is that in today’s society many girls believe they can’t. Consider the following research findings:

• A study published in Science in 2017 reported that girls as young as six believe men are inherently smarter and more talented than women and that being “brilliant” is a male quality.¹
• Another study found that American parents are two-and-a-half times more likely to Google “Is my son gifted?” than “Is my daughter gifted?” The same study found that parents Googled “Is my daughter overweight?” roughly twice as frequently as they Googled “Is my son overweight?”²
• Another study published in Science in 2015 found that in fields where people thought raw, innate talent was required for success, academic departments had lower percentages of women.³

Cultural stereotypes not only create a lack of confidence in young girls, they shape girls’ interests in such a way as to eventually create stark differences in female participation in certain professions such as business, computer science, physics, engineering, mathematics, medicine and even philosophy.

Two of the most important risk factors that may explain why girls lose the belief that they can succeed in certain fields are a lack of self-confidence and a lack of female role-models.

Girls Mean Business in Aotearoa New Zealand: Empowering Future Female Leaders

Over the past two years, GMB has built a dynamic and impactful relationship with Manurewa Intermediate School (MIT), empowering their Year 7 and 8 girls. This collaboration began with an inaugural workshop in November 2023 and has since evolved into several workshops with the goal of empowering the next generation of female leaders in the Manurewa community. Since then, we have had the opportunity to inspire a total of 130 Year 7 and 8 girls at Manurewa Intermediate (MIT).

Our initial session introduced the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, sparking the girls’ interest and establishing a foundation for ongoing collaboration between GMB and MIT. Building on this enthusiasm, March 2024 saw the launch of a GMB 101 workshop at MIT, attracting an impressive 75 girls. This workshop introduced the girls to topics such as entrepreneurship, the importance of growth mindsets, basic business finance, marketing fundamentals, prototyping and pitching. The high attendance highlighted the students’ eagerness to learn and the community’s strong support for empowering young women in business.

In Term 3, MIT introduced the ‘GMB Options Class’, a specialised course where a group of girls attended weekly sessions to explore entrepreneurship and business in greater detail. These sessions were taught by the school’s very own wonderful Jo McIntyre-Brown. The GMB team members also attended these sessions to provide mentorship and advice, helping the girls refine their business concepts and building confidence in their abilities. These classes covered a comprehensive curriculum that included developing an entrepreneurial mindset, generating innovative business ideas, developing these ideas, and mastering the art of pitching.

The GMB x MIT reached a new milestone in early October 2024 with a two-day intensive holiday-programme at MIT, which was attended by 30 dedicated girls. This programme offered an in-depth exploration of entrepreneurship, including growth mindset and business values, along with the basics of finance, marketing, idea generation, prototyping, and pitching. A key highlight was the personalised mentorship model, where one GMB teacher worked closely with every five girls, enhancing the students’ learning experiences and fostering a supportive and collaborative environment for idea development.

Looking ahead, both Girls Mean Business and Manurewa Intermediate are excited about continuing their relationship. Future plans include running many more workshops and developing a mentoring framework for GMB team members to connect with and mentor girls who are keen to pursue their business idea, with the aim of creating a comprehensive support network for the young entrepreneurs.

Our collaboration with Manurewa Intermediate exemplifies our mission to empower the next generation of female entrepreneurs through education and mentorship. Together, we are building the leaders of tomorrow, ensuring that young women in Manurewa have the tools, support, knowledge and confidence to excel in the world of business and beyond.

GMB is incredibly grateful for all the hard work teacher Jo McIntyre-Brown has put into this relationship, and we could not have made the impact that we have without her involvement and genuine passion.

Testimonial

We firmly believe that GMB is making a difference in the education and entrepreneurial aspirations of young women. Read below for some wonderful feedback from students, teachers and other supporters:

“You presented clearly and on the level of the age group. Your words were real and relevant. You engaged with the girls, reassured them, interacted with them, prompted them when necessary without putting the answers in their mouths. You encouraged their responses and the level of their confidence and engagement literally grew in front of our eyes. I loved the way you circulated the room and groups so the girls felt like they had the support they needed.”

  — Stacey Yates, Te Atatū Intermediate teacher

If you would like to learn more about the GMB suite of programmes, or sponsor a future programme, then please get in touch with Professor Christine Woods.

Footnotes

¹Bian L, Leslie SJ and Cimpian A. (2017) Gender stereotypes about intellectual ability emerge early and influence children’s interests. Science 355(6323):389-391.

²Stevens-Davidowitz S. (2014) Google, Tell Me. Is My Son a Genius? The New York Times 19 Jan: SR6

³Leslie SJ, Cimpian A, Meyer M and Freeland E. (2015) Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines. Science 347(6219): 262-265.