Gender equality in Asia has advanced significantly in the last three decades, as measured by the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report. More women in Asia have access to tertiary education and consequently enter the labor market, with a chance to advance to leadership roles. However, a gender gap still persists: the more senior one goes
up the leadership ranks, the fewer women there are. And, in Asia, gender inequality is rooted in entrenched cultural variables such as the tendency to value girls less than boys. This disparity in valuation of female versus male lives leads to continued
female feticide, family decisions to invest less in girls’ than boys’ education, and continuous obstacles to women’s leadership.
To continue the discussion of possible solutions to promoting female leadership in Asia initiated in 2012 with the launch of the Rising to the Top Report [PDF download], the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Microsoft, Rockefeller Foundation and Oxfam brought together senior leaders from government, corporations and non-profits at a symposium in Bangkok, Thailand, in April 2014.
While Asia has been advancing economically, it confronts complex problems pertaining to severe inequality, widespread environmental degradation, and intractable conflicts. To effectively address these challenges, Asia needs to tap all of its human and
leadership capital, male and female.
A recent Fortune 500 analysis showed that organisations with higher female representation delivered 53% more return on equity to shareholders than those with fewer women. However, to achieve genuine diversity and inclusion, Microsoft’s experience suggests
that diversity must begin at the top and must also be part of managers’ performance targets.
At the Bangkok symposium, participants from the government, corporate, and non-profit sectors sought to explain the ongoing problem of gender inequality in leadership in Asia and highlight potential solutions. Participants from the corporate sector (Microsoft
and CIMB) noted that diversity and inclusion are conducive to building a competitive advantage for teams and organizations, and to promoting creativity and innovation in the workplace. Women’s leadership must be at the core of any discussion of diversity
and inclusion. A recent Fortune 500 analysis showed that organisations with higher female representation delivered 53% more return on equity to shareholders than those with fewer women. However, to achieve genuine diversity and inclusion, Microsoft’s
experience suggests that diversity must begin at the top and must also be part of managers’ performance targets. Generous and supportive maternity leave policies and flexible work conditions for women also help maintain work-life balance and helps women
in their child-bearing years to stay in the workplace and continue to advance as leaders. Nonetheless, experience from the financial sector also emphasizes the need for not only institutional change, but, more importantly, change of attitudes. In Singapore,
for example, only 30% of corporate leaders think it is important to have women on the board. A shortfall in creating the value proposition for gender diversity in the corporate sector still remains and must be addressed.
Women inspired to pursue careers in the public sector also find it challenging to make it to the top echelons of authority and decision-making. Research conducted in Thailand revealed that, in many cases, organisations have no discriminatory policies
and women perform as well as men.
Women also enter public sector careers at roughly the same numbers as men. But after a certain point in time, the career paths of men and women diverge: men continue advancing to leadership roles, while women are left behind. One of the main reasons for
this is that women continue to bear greater responsibilities at home and, with motherhood, those responsibilities increase intensively. This is the “first hidden barrier to leadership” that women face. In sum, the unequal distribution of family responsibilities
prevents women from moving forward in their careers.
Further evidence suggests that less female representation in leadership roles is not due to lower levels of education among women compared to men; on the contrary, in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand, more women than men are enrolled in universities.
However, the overall picture in Asia-Pacific shows that 14% of women enrolled in tertiary education do not work at all and only a negligible number of well-educated women reach leadership positions. These factors are deeply rooted in prevalent cultural
norms, values and attitudes, concludes Dr. Juree Vichit-Vadakan from the National Institute of Development Administration of Thailand. In many cases, women do not receive the approval and support at home that they need to enable them to invest more
fully in their professional roles. These cultural factors result from a long and large socialisation process involving family, school, university and media. Thus, changing cultural values by transforming how people think, perceive and believe will enable
a positive shift towards greater gender equality.
In Thailand, continuous advocacy efforts for gender equality have resulted in an 8% increase in women’s participation in the public sector in the last 24 years. Such advocacy work targets three levels: 1) the general public—to increase social acceptance
of women’s achievements and changes in gender roles; 2) political parties—to conduct activities prior to elections, generate space to discuss specific policies for women, and increase women’s representation in political parties; and finally, 3) women
candidates—to provide intensive mentoring and training, and to create networks among elected women leaders and women organizations to create awareness of challenges that women face.
A representative of UNDP emphasised some of the contributions of women as leaders. Higher female participation in the public sector, for example, helps better prioritise health-related issues in policy-making. Women are also better at creating a collaborative
environment within different parties, and their involvement in peace-making processes enhances the chances for long-term success. However, notwithstanding these positive contributions, Asia still lags behind in female participation in the public sector.
The 2010 Regional Human Development Report identified three broad areas sustaining this trend: stereotypes of women’s traditional roles, political barriers, and economic barriers. Moreover, the report also suggested that economic development and democracy
are a necessary, but not sufficient, solution to women’s participation in the public sector. Examples from Afghanistan and Japan confirm this statement and underline the need for design and intentionality when addressing the issue of gender inequality.
A speaker from UN Women argued that the low participation of women in the public sector is also due to prevalent unconscious bias and gender stereotyping that privileges men over women. A strong and well-documented evidence for this is the persistent
wage gap between men and women. Another example is persistent discrimination against women as public sector leaders. To address cultural bias and gender stereotyping in the public sphere, some countries have resorted to affirmative action in the form
of quotas for women participants and leaders. In countries where such quotas have been adopted, the number of women in parliament and other elective offices has increased.
Representatives from media emphasized the lack of female representation in leadership roles in their sector. Young female journalists have difficulty finding female leadership role models. It is particularly important to have more women decision-makers
and leaders in media because what they do could potentially promote gender inclusion, educate the general public, and raise the level of debate on such gender-related issues as sexism, teen pregnancy, violence against women and women’s leadership.
Civil society is also a driving force in improving gender diversity in leadership. A representative from Cambodia noted that civil society has underpinned efforts to increase women’s political representation in Cambodia. From 2005 to 2012, the percentage
of women elected in local governments increased from 8% to 17%. These figures are encouraging, but more needs to be done. Many male political leaders in Cambodia remain reluctant to support more women leaders because they view the situation as zero-sum:
if women reach higher levels of authority, men will be left behind. A discussion is needed to help male leaders appreciate better the unique perspectives and contributions of their female counterparts, and to help advance the notion of healthy competition
based on merit rather than gender.
(…) Salaries offered in non-profits are significantly lower compared to the private or even public sectors. This tends to exclude men from pursuing non-profit careers because the compensation offered is not enough for them to sustain their roles as
breadwinners. Thus, the main challenge faced by non-profits has less to do with the underrepresentation of women than with building more savvy and competitive human capital. Women leaders in the non-profit space need to learn better and do more to
sustain what they do without having to rely constantly on the good will and generosity of external funding agencies.
Oxfam, a development organisation that works in Asian countries where gender inequality is the largest challenge to poverty reduction, addressed the issue of women residing in rural. A core challenge these women face is limited access to markets, information,
credit and mobility. Oxfam works to empower rural women by investing in rural companies and cooperatives, and providing training to their members. These companies promote women’s participation at all levels, including in decision-making positions. However,
culture, including traditional gender roles and traditional beliefs, remain a difficult barrier to overcome. To help overcome cultural variables, Oxfam has established women-led cooperatives, with the goal of changing perceptions of women and their
potential contribution as leaders.
Finally, the non-profit sector, while having more women leaders than other sectors, exemplifies vulnerability in leadership. Salaries offered in non-profits are significantly lower compared to the private or even public sectors. This tends to exclude
men from pursuing non-profit careers because the compensation offered is not enough for them to sustain their roles as breadwinners. Thus, the main challenge faced by non-profits has less to do with the underrepresentation of women than with building
more savvy and competitive human capital. Women leaders in the non-profit space need to learn better and do more to sustain what they do without having to rely constantly on the good will and generosity of external funding agencies.
To advance women’s leadership and promote greater gender equality in Asia, strong political will and commitment are critical in the private, public and non-profit sectors. The region has already made progress in gender equality, but it is not enough.
For all of its new affluence, a “rising Asia” can continue to rise in a more sustained manner only if it is able to tap the talents and leadership contributions of all its men and women.
Dr Mary Astrid S. Tuminez is Regional Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs (LCA) in Southeast Asia (SEA),
Microsoft and Adjunct Professor at the LKY School. Maria del Mar Garza (MPP 2013) and Lilia Saetova (MPP 2013) are researchers for “Women Pathways to Leadership in Asia”, a joint project looking at women leadership in Asia sponsored by the LKY
School, the Asia Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.