CELEBRATING WOMANHOOD ON EQUAL NOTE

As nations around the world celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, with the theme #EachforEqual, the number of companies that have had women in a leadership role continues to expand. But the list is still relatively short, and even when women have made it to power, they have rarely led for a long time. Globally women at leadership position are very less and only 4.9 per cent of Fortune 500 companies have women at leadership position.

- Hithaishi C Bhaskar

Women are still vastly underrepresented in the science fields, even today. There’s a lack of diverse perspectives and voices creating the next life-changing technologies in our societies – a huge missed opportunity. “There are probably many reasons for this. Part of it could be social pressures, but we think a big reason for this is a lack of role models for the young to follow,” says Dr. Low Yen Ling, Divisional Vice President of Scientific & Medical Affairs, Abbott.

At Abbott, Dr. Low Yen Ling adds “advancing the role of women is important to our business and to the organizations and communities we work with around the world. We value diversity and there are initiatives in place such as Abbott’s Women Leaders in Action (WLA) whose mission is to develop women to excel in the organization and support them to increasing levels of leadership.”

In the Clinical Research Organisation (CRO) industry, women tend to dominate entry-level positions, but numbers decline at more senior and executive levels. Family obligations are practical hurdles for women and often take priority over a professional career – indeed culturally in Asia women take on more family responsibilities than men. In addition, often it’s not easy to successfully transition back to work.

Dr. Yooni Kim, Executive Director, Asia Operations, Novotech, Seoul, South Korea says “I think it’s improving. More healthcare companies are focusing on how they can support women and keeping them with the company. Flexible work arrangements is one solution that help women employees manage their lives.” Novotech encourages its people to engage in flexible working practices across all its Asia locations. Both men and women benefit from this, and Novotech’s supportive parental leave program.