Reducing gender gaps in Asia and Pacific essential to realizing region’s potential - Ingrid van Wees
According to the World Economic Forum’s 2018 Global Gender Gap Report, 6 out of 25 developing Asian countries had attained gender parity in education. In 12 out of 18 Asia Pacific countries analysed in the Report, women outnumber men in tertiary education enrolment rates.
However, these improvements in skills and professional training for women have not translated yet into progress towards equal economic and professional clout, the ADB's official website reads.
Gender gaps persist in labour force participation, gendered-segregation of the labour market, financial inclusion, and representation in senior managerial positions across the corporate world. This is the only region in the world where the labour force participation rate of women is declining. Meanwhile, a growing body of research on the future of work in the region has highlighted the high concentration of women in informal and vulnerable work, and that the bulk of unpaid care work is disproportionally being carried out by women.
Female participation in the labour force in 2018 ranged from 60.1% in East Asia at the top end of the spectrum to only 25.9% at the bottom end in South Asia, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). When women do work, they are often segregated into «feminized» sectors, where wages are typically lower. Wages are not yet equal. In developing Asia, the gender wage gap (75%) is lower than the global average of 79%
Women’s share in managerial positions across Asia varies significantly. In the corporate sphere, three countries in this region are among the top 10 economies worldwide with women in senior management positions, higher than the global average of 25%. They are the Philippines at 39%, Thailand at 37%, and Indonesia at 36%. On the other hand, there are countries in the region at the lower end, for example Japan with only 7%.
Women’s representation on corporate boards is even lower than at the managerial level. This ranged from 11.6% in Indonesia to 1.9% in South Korea. In 2011, India and Malaysia established 30% mandatory gender diversity quotas for senior management and board positions in corporations. However, implementation has been slow. As of 2016, women accounted only for 8.6% on corporate boards in Malaysia and 5.2% in India.
Banking at the most senior management level in particular remains male territory in the region, since the share of female representation at this level reached only 6.9% on average, according to data gathered by the Financial Times.
While developing countries in Asia and Pacific are embracing new financial technology to make rapid progress on financial inclusion, the gender gap is felt here too. Women accounted for just 35% of bank depositors and borrowers in these countries in 2016.
Increasing women’s participation in the workforce and closing the wage gap would have a tremendous growth impact for the region. ILO in 2017 estimated that this could add $3.2 trillion to Asia and Pacific region economies.
Increasing women’s access to finance can have life-changing impacts on not only their lives, but those of their families and communities. For example, women-led small and medium-sized enterprises in Sri Lanka are benefitting from facilitated access to credit to grow their businesses through an ADB project, which has been further supplemented by a grant from the Women Entrepreneurs’ Finance Initiative (We-Fi). Since last year, over 323 women’s businesses, employing 3,934 people, have financially benefitted from the project.
Financial institutions targeting female clients will be more successful at understanding and responding to customers’ needs if their personnel mirrors the market. Including female professionals and managers in research product selection and marketing will lead to better custom-tailored products. That is one reason why ADB’s Trade Finance Program has been running a gender initiative to support its participating banks to improve its workplace gender equality/family-friendly policies.
There is growing evidence that gender equality in management and leadership results in higher productivity, more diverse decision-making, and better and more sustainable results. This is particularly true for female leaders in the banking sector. A study by the International Monetary Fund recently found that a higher share of female senior leaders is associated with greater stability and more prudent management.
Moreover, it is true for any type of organization that effective women leaders provide positive role models and contribute to changing social perceptions about women and girls. Policymakers and multilateral development banks like my own must lead by setting good examples, and work with the banking sector to address the gender gaps.
On its part, ADB is committed to accelerating progress in gender equality in its developing member countries. And it is championing the cause within its own institutional structure and corporate culture.
Among other sectors, ADB supports various projects with a gender focus in such areas as technical and vocational education and training, urban and water, rural development, transport, and renewable energy. It has also provided technical assistance for legal and judicial reforms in support of gender equality, as well as women’s leadership within government and communities at all levels.
Last year, 56% of ADB’s sovereign and nonsovereign lending at entry had strong gender design elements. ADB is setting even higher standards for itself. In July 2018, ADB’s Board of Directors approved a long-term corporate strategy called the Strategy 2030. Under this, ADB aims to ensure 75% of its projects in the public and private sector will include gender designs by 2030.
Strategy 2030 sets gender equality and women’s empowerment as one of its operational priorities for the next decade. ADB will promote women’s economic empowerment by expanding entrepreneurship opportunities for women and promoting their access to quality jobs in higher-paying sectors and the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics sectors where women struggle to enter.
ADB’s approach is also informed by a recognition of the importance of tackling discriminatory social norms and institutions. It includes supporting legal, institutional, and governance reforms at public level to explore measures are carried out to remove gender-based discrimination, enhance women’s participation in public resource allocation, and support leadership at all levels
Another major thrust is reducing the domestic responsibilities faced by women through improved water, electricity, and transport infrastructure. In the Asia Pacific, women spend from 2 to 11 times more time on unpaid care work (caring for family members, cooking, cleaning, fetching water, etc.) than men. That time spent represents an important barrier to pursuing economic pathways.
In 2016, ADB Management took bolder actions and set higher targets to improve workplace gender balance by enhancing recruitment of talented women, career management, training, development, and retention of female staff within ADB. ADB also has a gender target for various levels of management that is closely monitored and transparently reported upon. Leadership development programmes are now being conducted to prepare women for senior positions and enable senior staff to become better managers of diverse teams.
Gender equality will indeed be at the heart of ADB’s priorities under Strategy 2030 and across the institution.
On a wider scale, women’s empowerment is not just an objective in itself; it is essential to achieving inclusive and sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific. Given the economic, environmental, and technology challenges facing society in Asia and Pacific, it is about time to utilise the ingenuity, creativity, and energy of the region’s entire population. To do this, countries must fully engage women; and educate and empower them to allow for their contribution. At the same time, we should ensure we include, educate, and equip all men and boys for this transition to make this journey together and leave no one behind.