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One
thing that can be said about the boom in globalization
in the last decade is now there are more studies and
surveys focusing on global trends.
Granted
that the
Philippines
is usually on top of the list in areas that we don’t
want to be (corruption, spam e-mails, etc.), a recent
report might change the perception of the Philippines a
little.
Grant
Thornton International is one of the world’s leading
organizations of independently owned and managed
accounting and consulting firms. As part of their
services to clients, they are probably the best survey
providers in the world. The Grant Thornton International
Business Report (IBR), from which I have quoted numerous
times in the past, provides some very thoughtful and
insightful information. The IBR is where you want to go
to learn which nation’s executives are the most
stressed-out or where businesses intend to spend the
money in the coming year.
A
recently released study shows that the Philippines is
No. 1 on the planet in the number of businesses with
women in senior management positions. Almost 100 percent
(97 percent) of Filipino businesses depend on at least
one woman who occupies a position in the highest
echelons of management. Others scoring very high along
with the
Philippines
are China, Malaysia, Thailand and Brazil.
In
comparison,
Japan
ranks at the bottom with only 25 percent of companies
with woman at or near the top. Four out of the five
countries with the lowest figures are in Europe: the
Netherlands (27 percent), Luxembourg (37 percent),
Germany (41 percent) and Italy (42 percent).
In less
than 70 percent of US companies are woman in senior
management as in the UK, Sweden, Singapore, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand.
Further,
the report states: “The percentage of women in senior
managerial positions globally has grown slightly from 19
percent to 22 percent since 2004. The Philippines comes
out on top with 50 percent of managerial positions being
held by females, ahead of Brazil (42 percent) and two
other Asian countries—Thailand (39 percent) and Hong
Kong (35 percent). Lowest in the table is Japan with
just 7 percent, below three European countries
Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands at 10 percent,
12 percent and 13 percent respectively.”
Seems
like that if you are a woman and you want to reach the
top of the corporate ladder, you need to be in a
developing country rather than First World economy.
And I
will not entertain any comments about how those
countries got to be “First World” because they are all
run by men. After all, the editor-in-chief of
BusinessMirror is an incredibly competent person and a
woman, and I do not want to get into trouble with her.
It is
sort of fascinating that the Philippines would be No. 1
is this survey. The Philippines is sometimes
characterized and criticized as a matriarchal society.
Western feminist groups often scorn Asian women and
Filipinas, in particular, as being subservient and
second-class citizens. And yet, twice as many senior
management positions are held by women in the
Philippines than in the US, or in any other country in
the western hemisphere or Europe.
Another
social factor that this survey proves is that, in a
sense, for 30 years the feminists in the West have been
wrong. These women’s groups demanded that the line
between the sexes be dissolved, especially in the
workplace, and offered that easy and unrestricted access
to contraception and abortion along with quick and
guilt-free divorce would help march them up the
corporate ladder. And here in the “backward,”
nonliberated Philippines, women have nearly as much
corporate responsibility and authority as men do.
For a
nation that has had two women as head of state and
government, the status of our women in the corporate
sector should not be such a surprise. The only other
country I can think of that shares that distinction is
another somewhat traditionally Catholic nation,
Ireland.
The
surprise about the
Philippines
and its women corporate executives will be in the
perception of the foreigners. Unfortunately, Filipinas
are best known by “Imelda’s shoes,” thousands of
overseas domestic helpers and japayukis by the foreign
media and press. That perception is disgraceful and
obviously false, not telling the full story.
It would
be nice, though, to hear some of our local women’s
groups and our most vocal individuals who champion
women’s issues to talk about this survey. Not only does
this information give a different perspective on the
Philippines, but might encourage our next generation of
women to realize that there are opportunities here at
home to succeed and excel in the world of business.
Regardless of the social and economic failures that the
Philippines has in regard to its women, there is a
bright spot or two.
E-mail comments to mangun@email.com. |
