Vice Chairwoman of Vietnam’s Peace Committee Ton Nu Thi Ninh (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) - Although the proportion of women in leadership roles and management in politics and the economy in Vietnam has increased in recent years, it is still insufficient compared to their potential, Ton Nu Thi Ninh, Vice Chairwoman of Vietnam’s Peace Committee, has said.
Ninh spoke at an international conference held on March 5 in HCM City by the HCM City Association for Women Executives and Entrepreneurs (HAWEE) to mark International Women’s Day.
She said that Vietnam now has three women in the Politburo.
“How heartening the progress is,” she said, however, adding that the percentage of women in the Party Central Committee still remains only at 10 percent.
The proportion of female members in the 13th National Assembly is 24.4 percent, higher than the world average of 22.5 percent. However, it has declined over the last four terms of the legislature.
The Government should have more policies to give opportunities for women to raise their representative proportion, she said.
“More women should be in leadership positions to manage the country because they are worthy. Moreover, they have the capacity but they lack one thing. That thing is a chance,” she added.
Ninh said there were already chances in politics, which is why they were focusing to develop leadership and management in the field of economics.
In 2014, 24.9 percent of enterprise and farm leaders were female, an increase of 0.5 percent compared to 2013.
Ninh said that women should be given a chance to prove themselves.
Men should be “unbiased” towards women, she said.
The conference, which attracted more than 300 foreign, domestic and enterprise leaders, most of them women, heard discussions about women in technology, innovation and the sciences, as well as talks about leadership capacity training for women and social values for female enterprises.
Women in the tech field
The proportion of women working in technology and science is lower than for men.
Dr Nguyen Thi Hoe, Chairwoman of KOVA Group, said that female students whom she had taught in universities often achieved better learning outcomes than male students.
However, after graduating they do not gain promotion at work because they are in charge of housework, she added.
Hoe said that enterprises and the Government should have proper bonus policies for good female employees so that they will be loyal, work a long time and contribute to research.
Sherry Boger, General Manager of Intel Products Vietnam, said that they should negotiate with their spouses about housework duties.
Because of impediments such as these, they do not have much time to build professional and social networks that could help them be passionate about their work.
She cited one global research study on women in technology, engineering and science, which showed that women in these fields were isolated due of a lack of networks.
Intel Vietnam is providing scholarships to female students at technical vocational schools to encourage more women to learn and work in the field.
Astrid Tuminez, Microsoft regional director of legal and corporate affairs in Southeast Asia, said that women who take advantage of technology in their daily lives and jobs could gain success.
At the conference, HAWEE and the Australia Consulate General signed an agreement on cultural and educational exchange and cooperation in female leadership and enterprises.-VNA
