Vietnam is among the top 10 countries in term of increasing proportion of women in senior management positions after posting a 30 percent growth rate last year.

Others in the top ten include China, Latvia, and the Philippines, said the latest Grant Thornton Business Report (IBR) released late last week.

Globally, 24 percent of senior management roles are now filled by women, up from 21 percent in 2012 and 20 percent in 2011.

But the G7 rich economies are at the bottom with just 21 percent of senior jobs filled by women.

The IBR data reveals that flexible working, while welcomed by many, does not appear to be a determining factor in getting women into top positions.

In the G7 countries, 72 percent of businesses provide flexibility to employees, but it is only 27 percent in China and 40 percent in the BRIC economies.

Vietnam is a leader in this category with over 70 percent of companies offering flexible working hours.

But 55 percent of businesses worldwide said they are against the idea of quotas for the number of women in the boards of large listed companies.

Trinh Thi Tuyet Anh, audit director of Grant thornton Vietnam, said “Given the highly flexible working hours in Vietnam and the Government’s favourable policy for ‘gender equality’, many Vietnamese women are taking the opportunity and are increasingly proving themselves in the work place”.

The IBR provides insight into the views and expectations of more than 12,500 businesses in 44 economies.-VNA