Update: Spotlight on Asia 2014 – China and Singapore: Baby Steps Towards Improving Gender Diversity

Welcome the The Glass Hammer’s “Spotlight on Asia” week! We will be highlighting successful women working in Asia all week long!

By Beth Senko

In last year’s Spotlight on Asia, we wrote about the sizeable gender gap in the Asian workforce and some of the hurdles that women face in narrowing that gap. Today as part of our 2014 coverage of Asia, we look at some updated statistics and take a deeper look at China and Singapore and then in part 2 tomorrow we examine Japan and South Korea – to see how women are positioned in each and efforts to improve the gender balance in the workplace.

The Opportunity is Great but the Journey may be Long
McKinsey’s June 2013 report, Women Matter: An Asia Perspective, noted, “women hold very few of the top jobs in Asia. On average, they hold 6% of the seats on corporate boards and 8% of those on executive committees. Moreover, although elements of a gender diversity program are in place in some Asian companies, the issue is not yet high on the strategic agenda of most.”

Women have better representation in the senior ranks both globally and in Asia, but that level is unchanged in the past six years according to Grant Thorton’s 2014 International Business Report, Women in Business: from Classroom to Boardroom. The study shows that the proportion of women in senior management roles globally was 24% in 2013. What is unclear is whether this is a plateau before the next significant uptick – or whether women’s climb up the corporate ladder is stalled for the long-term.

In Asia, women hold a higher percentage of senior management jobs (~35%) than the global average. This number however, varies widely by country and is heavily influenced by the large proportion of senior roles held by women in China. Japan ranks the lowest in the Grant Thorton Study with 9% of women in senior management roles; China ranks best in Asia with 38%.

China Performs Strongly in Gender Diversity Rankings
The high rate of women’s participation in the labor force and at senior levels likely stems from China’s socialist history as well as the high number of State-owned Enterprises (SoEs) in business. In many countries, women tend to hold a greater percentage of senior positions in companies/agencies that typically fall under government or quasi-government rule such as education. Given the still close ties between business and the state in China, it’s no surprise that China ranks well in gender diversity rankings. As noted above, Grant Thorton’s 2014 International Business Report, Women in Business: from Classroom to Boardroom counts women as having 38% of senior management roles in China, placing it near the top of all nations in the survey.

The numbers, however, may not tell the whole story – or at least the story of women who are not in the top ranks. A 2013 article in the South China Morning Post opens with the statement, “Women professionals on the mainland face more sex discrimination now than they did 20 years ago.” The article tells stories from unnamed women who claim that they did not get certain positions because of their sex and/or that they were required to sign documents agreeing to not get married or pregnant for a certain period of time.

Under the communist regime, workers were generally assigned to jobs and there were laws against gender inequality. Moreover, with a one-child only policy, more women were likely available to work outside the home. While market reforms have arguably resulted in greater employment and prosperity for the Chinese population in general, an article in the New York Times suggests that the Chinese government has used more subversive types of propaganda aimed at stigmatizing early-career professional women (the leftovers) in the workplace, creating a more challenging work environment for women. It is quite possible too, that China’s economic slowdown in recent years has increased pressure on women in the workplace.

So while there is cause for hope in the early viewings of the statistics, a critical analysis illustrates there is still great progress to be made and roadblocks to overcome for the working woman in China.

Singapore Pushes for Action
Singapore ranks slightly behind China in terms of gender diversity in the workforce; however, like many countries across the globe, women are better represented in the public sector than in the private sector. Singaporean women do well in statutory/public sector roles, accounting for nearly 20% of board directorships and 36% of senior management positions. However, in business, gender diversity lags.

Women make up only 6% of independent board directors for companies listed on the Singapore exchange. If non-independent directors are included, the number rises slightly to 8.3%. On a more positive note, women hold just over 21% of senior management positions. These numbers are particularly disappointing because of the seemingly high level of women who could fill those roles. In 2013, 58% of women were in the workforce – accounting for 45% of Singapore’s total residential workforce. Singapore’s young women are also well educated, with 76% having college (tertiary) degrees.

In 2012, Madam Halimah Yacob, Speaker of Parliament, launched Singapore’s Diversity Task Force (DTF) to address underrepresentation of women on boards and in senior business roles. The DTF’s efforts are supported by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and overseen by members of both private and public agencies.

In July 2013, the DTF reported the results of its first report, “Gender Diversity on Boards: A Business Imperative.” The report included recommendations for increasing diversity in the workplace, but stopped short of recommending quotas noting, “the causes for the low percentage of women on boards are complex and intertwined. Instead, the DTF recommends measures to address the underlying root causes and prefer to allow these measures to run their course before assessing if quotas should be imposed in future.”

The DTF appears to be making some early strides. In its most recent data, the percentage of board directorships held by women increased from 7.3% before the DTF to 8.3%. However, the DTF report comments that the pace of diversification remains too slow, “At the current rate of growth, the proportion of women-held directorships will only reach a mere 17% in 2030. Concerted action needs to be taken.”

Economic Growth and Political Empowerment will drive Gender Diversity in Asia
While gender diversity remains an issue in Asia as well as in many parts of the world, we believe that strong economic growth, a need for more workers and a continued shift to a consumer-based (as opposed to manufacturing-based) economy will bode well for a rise in women in the workplace over the next ten years.