Women in New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnamcontinue to outshine their regional peers, according to MasterCard'slatest Index of Women's Advancement (H2 2014).
Across the region,New Zealand has the highest overall score of 77, followed by Australia(76), the Philippines (72.6), Singapore (70.5), and Vietnam (66.0)
India(44.2), Bangladesh (44.6), Sri Lanka (46.2), and Bangladesh have scoresbelow 50, indicating that much more needs to be done to achieve genderparity.
Thailand recorded the largest decline overall (59.4, down7.2 index points from H1 2014), while Singapore had the biggestimprovement (70.5, up 0.4 index points from H1 2014).
The index, measuring the socio-economic standing of women across theAsia Pacific, has three main indicators derived from additionalsub-indicators: Employment (Workforce Participation, RegularEmployment), Capability (Secondary Education, Tertiary Education) andLeadership (Business Owners, Business Leaders, Political leaders).
Though women in the Asia Pacific are increasingly more educated thantheir male counterparts, progress towards gender parity is stillsluggish – especially in the areas of business leadership, businessownership and political participation.
Out of the 16markets surveyed, women in 10 markets outnumber men in tertiaryeducation enrolment rate. While there is a strong correlation betweentertiary education and business leadership in markets such as thePhilippines (130.8 for tertiary education; 92.5 for business leaders)and New Zealand (146.3; 70.2), women in the majority of markets acrossAsia Pacific are lagging behind in business leadership despite theireducational qualifications.
Of the three components,Capability remains the strongest indicator of Asia Pacific women'sprogress towards gender parity for the ninth consecutive year.
To measure Capability, the scores are indexed to 100 males to indicatehow close or how far women in each of the 16 Asia Pacific marketscovered by the research are to achieving socio-economic parity with men.
A score of under 100 indicates gender inequality infavor of males and a score of 100 indicates equality between the sexes.
Vietnam is one of only a few nations to achieve 100.
With the exception of the Republic of Korea (85.9), the scores for all markets in the region are above 90.
The results show that Employment remains the second strongest component over the nine-year period from 2007 to 2015.
With the exception of Indonesia (78.4) and Malaysia (75.9), womenacross the majority of markets in the Asia Pacific are making progresstowards becoming as economically active as their male counterparts,scoring above the 80-point mark for Employment.
Vietnam scores 81.8 for Employment, compared to 81.6 in 2014.
Four markets score higher than 90 index points for Employment: NewZealand (91.3), China (91.2), Australia (90.8), and Taiwan (90.2).
Leadership remains the weakest component from the previous year (and also over the nine-year period).
New Zealand (50.6) and the Philippines (50.1) are the only two marketswith more than 50 women business owners/ business leaders/ governmentleaders for every 100 men.
Australia ranks third (49.7), followed by Singapore (41.5), and Vietnam (35.2).
The Philippines, Singapore, and Indonesia show the most markedadvancement in women's leadership since 2007, respectively gaining 12.2,8.7 and 7.5 index points.
Thai women have made themost significant progress in business leadership since nine years ago,jumping 20.4 index points to 62.7.
"In fact,companies with more women in leadership outperform those who do not, sothe male dominance of leadership roles should be concerning,"GeorgetteTan, group head, communications, Asia Pacific, MasterCard,said.
"In a highly competitive global market, companiesare beginning to understand why integrating talented women intoleadership structures is imperative for sustainable economic growth andinnovation in both developed and developing markets."-VNA
Across the region,New Zealand has the highest overall score of 77, followed by Australia(76), the Philippines (72.6), Singapore (70.5), and Vietnam (66.0)
India(44.2), Bangladesh (44.6), Sri Lanka (46.2), and Bangladesh have scoresbelow 50, indicating that much more needs to be done to achieve genderparity.
Thailand recorded the largest decline overall (59.4, down7.2 index points from H1 2014), while Singapore had the biggestimprovement (70.5, up 0.4 index points from H1 2014).
The index, measuring the socio-economic standing of women across theAsia Pacific, has three main indicators derived from additionalsub-indicators: Employment (Workforce Participation, RegularEmployment), Capability (Secondary Education, Tertiary Education) andLeadership (Business Owners, Business Leaders, Political leaders).
Though women in the Asia Pacific are increasingly more educated thantheir male counterparts, progress towards gender parity is stillsluggish – especially in the areas of business leadership, businessownership and political participation.
Out of the 16markets surveyed, women in 10 markets outnumber men in tertiaryeducation enrolment rate. While there is a strong correlation betweentertiary education and business leadership in markets such as thePhilippines (130.8 for tertiary education; 92.5 for business leaders)and New Zealand (146.3; 70.2), women in the majority of markets acrossAsia Pacific are lagging behind in business leadership despite theireducational qualifications.
Of the three components,Capability remains the strongest indicator of Asia Pacific women'sprogress towards gender parity for the ninth consecutive year.
To measure Capability, the scores are indexed to 100 males to indicatehow close or how far women in each of the 16 Asia Pacific marketscovered by the research are to achieving socio-economic parity with men.
A score of under 100 indicates gender inequality infavor of males and a score of 100 indicates equality between the sexes.
Vietnam is one of only a few nations to achieve 100.
With the exception of the Republic of Korea (85.9), the scores for all markets in the region are above 90.
The results show that Employment remains the second strongest component over the nine-year period from 2007 to 2015.
With the exception of Indonesia (78.4) and Malaysia (75.9), womenacross the majority of markets in the Asia Pacific are making progresstowards becoming as economically active as their male counterparts,scoring above the 80-point mark for Employment.
Vietnam scores 81.8 for Employment, compared to 81.6 in 2014.
Four markets score higher than 90 index points for Employment: NewZealand (91.3), China (91.2), Australia (90.8), and Taiwan (90.2).
Leadership remains the weakest component from the previous year (and also over the nine-year period).
New Zealand (50.6) and the Philippines (50.1) are the only two marketswith more than 50 women business owners/ business leaders/ governmentleaders for every 100 men.
Australia ranks third (49.7), followed by Singapore (41.5), and Vietnam (35.2).
The Philippines, Singapore, and Indonesia show the most markedadvancement in women's leadership since 2007, respectively gaining 12.2,8.7 and 7.5 index points.
Thai women have made themost significant progress in business leadership since nine years ago,jumping 20.4 index points to 62.7.
"In fact,companies with more women in leadership outperform those who do not, sothe male dominance of leadership roles should be concerning,"GeorgetteTan, group head, communications, Asia Pacific, MasterCard,said.
"In a highly competitive global market, companiesare beginning to understand why integrating talented women intoleadership structures is imperative for sustainable economic growth andinnovation in both developed and developing markets."-VNA
