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Women in Asia-Pacific still face difficulties joining workforce or leadership positions: Mastercard

Xinhua, March 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

Despite more women than men in Asia-Pacific having tertiary education, there still exists a large gender gap that hinders women from achieving their full economic potential through participation in the workforce or presence in leadership positions, according to the latest MasterCard Index of Women's Advancement released on Thursday in the lead-up to International Women's Day.

The index measures the socioeconomic standing of women across 18 Asia-Pacific markets and is comprised of three main indicators which are derived from additional sub-indicators: Capability (Secondary Education, Tertiary Education), Employment (Workforce Participation, Regular Employment) and Leadership (Business Owners, Business Leaders, Political leaders). The scores show the proportion of women to every 100 men. A score of 100 indicates equality between the sexes.

In 12 out of 18 Asia-Pacific markets, women outnumber men in university education gross enrolment rate, with New Zealand, Australia and Thailand taking the top spots at 141.8, 137.5 and 134.5 respectively.

However, in terms of overall index scores, the top three markets, New Zealand, Australia and the Philippines all scored a much lower figure, at 78, 76 and 71.4 respectively. And apart from the top three markets and Singapore, all other markets in Asia-Pacific had scores below the 70-point mark with Japan (49.5) and four South Asia markets -- Bangladesh (45.5), Sri Lanka (44.3), India (38.0) and Pakistan (23.4) -- among the lowest and only markets scoring below 50 points.

The gap reflects educational attainment is not translating into workforce participation in many markets, the report showed, as with more women than men are entering university in New Zealand, China and the Philippines, women are still much less likely to be in the workforce.

"Gender gaps in access to education have narrowed over the years, but we still have a long way to go before women across Asia-Pacific are equally represented in business and politics. The lack of critical mass in women's representation and participation in the economy -- coupled with the inadequate and inconsistent implementation of equality legislation -- continues to be the biggest challenge for women and is reflected across all markets irrespective of the pace of economic development," said Georgette Tan, group head, Communications, Asia-Pacific, MasterCard.

"Access is crucial to integrating female talent in the economy as women still don't have the same access to job opportunities or even social networks as men. A range of factors impacting the economic contributions made by women in the workforce also need to be addressed including country-specific socio-cultural factors, traditional beliefs, and government policies. Closing the gender equality gap and leveling the employment playing field would benefit not just women, but the global economy as a whole," Tan added. Endit