Gender equality in Asia: It might get uncomfortable

We did a study to take a closer look at gender equality across more than 900 companies and nearly 500,000 survey respondents.

- Richard Smith

As organizations acknowledge international women’s day this month, it strikes me that many businesses obviously need to spend much more than a day to advance women in the workplace! It is no secret that addressing gender equality in business has been a challenge in our Asia region. The societal norms, generations of assumptions, and even legal limitations have created hurdles for accepting women in business roles and leadership positions. While this is changing in many countries, the number of women in top political and business roles is much lower in Asia than global averages. If we consider economic potential associated with this missing segment of human capital, Asia could add $4.5 trillion USD to the annual GDP by 2025. Given an increasing number of female university graduates, aging populations, challenge of skills development, and need for new sources of labour, embracing gender diversity provides a clear opportunity.

Through my collaboration with the Great Place to Work Initiative, we decided to take a closer look at gender equality across more than 900 companies and nearly 500,000 survey respondents for our recent research report. The largest gaps between the male and female respondents mirrored findings from other studies that suggested that women are not provided with the same opportunities as their male counterparts as shown below.

Largest gender gap items

1. People here are paid fairly for the work they do.

2. I feel I make a difference here.

3. Everyone has an opportunity to get special recognition.

4. Managers avoid playing favorites.

5. Promotions go to those who best deserve them.

6. I want to work here for a long time.