Surveys
Women In Asia Climb Up Work Ladder At Leading Banks, Firms - Study

Women in six Asia economies are increasingly represented in the workforce of top businesses such as global banks; there are widening gaps in performance between these jurisdictions.
Women in six Asia economies – China, Hong Kong, India, Japan,
Malaysia and Singapore – are increasingly represented in the
workforce of top businesses such as global banks, including in
leadership roles, but there are widening gaps between performance
between these jurisdictions, a survey shows.
The most noticeable advances by women have taken place in China
and Malaysia, while India and Japan are among the laggards,
according to the Gender Diversity Benchmark For Asia
2014 study, issued by lead sponsor Bank
of America Merrill Lynch. The study was carried out by
Community Business, a non-profit organisation looking at
corporate responsibility issues.
The survey, based on data from 32 organisations as at the end of
December last year, included banks and financial institutions
such as ANZ, Bank of America Merrill Lynch; BlackRock,
Commonwealth Bank; Citi; Deutsche Bank; Goldman Sachs; JP Morgan;
Linklaters; Macquarie Bank; Morgan Stanley; National Australia
Bank; Nomura, Royal Bank of Scotland and State Street.
It has been remarked many times over that representation of women
in wealth management must rise particularly if firms are to be
more successful in attracting more female clients.
In the case of Singapore, home to many private banks and wealth
management firms, 48.2 per cent of roles, across all employment
grades, are held by women. Malaysia has the highest
representation, at 58.1 per cent, while India has the lowest, at
26.6 per cent. In terms of senior-level roles, China is top, at
35.6 per cent, followed by Malaysia at 34 per cent. India is
again the lowest, at 10.6 per cent. Among junior roles, China has
the highest representation, 64.9 per cent (the report did not
state if this data was skewed by China’s notorious one-child
policy, which has been blamed for an imbalance of males).
“Overall, we are pleased to see some signs of real progress in
this latest study. Of course, much more needs to be done and
performance varies across the region. Women continue to be
under-represented at senior levels in organisations and we need
to continue to address this,” he said.
Among the findings was the point that policies and programmes at
firms don’t automatically boost female representation, as has
been the case in Japan, or, on the other hand, in Malaysia, where
companies offer the shortest maternity leave.
The report was also sponsored by Google and Brown-Forman.