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THE
Philippines posted the strongest index score among 13
Asia-Pacific markets in the fourth annual MasterCard
Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement, the 2008 results
of which were recently released by MasterCard Worldwide.
The
Philippines posted a score of 86.82 to lead the way for
the second-straight year, followed by Hong Kong (77.37)
and Malaysia (76.89).
The
results of this year’s index were announced by Georgette
Tan, vice president-communications for Asia-Pacific,
Middle East and Africa of MasterCard Worldwide, at the
Global Summit of Women in Hanoi.
The
MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement
measures the socioeconomic level of women in relation to
men using four key indicators: the ratio of female-
to-male participation in the labor force, ratio of
females to males in tertiary education and survey data
that measure female- and male- respondent perceptions of
whether they hold managerial positions and whether they
earn above-median income.
The
resulting total index figure obtained is a combined
calculation of these indicators showing how close or how
far women in each market are to being equal to men, with
a score of 100 indicating gender equality, under 100
favoring males and above 100 favoring females.
The
latest survey demonstrated that positive sentiment
remained strong among Filipino women, who perceived
themselves as “almost equal” to their male counterparts
in terms of position and influence in the workplace, as
well as salary.
Based on
the 2008 report, the overall index across 13 markets
dropped from 73.24 in 2007 to 70.38 in 2008. Seven
markets, including the Philippines, saw a decline in
their indexes, with New Zealand, China and Taiwan
experiencing the biggest drop. On the other hand, among
those that achieved an uplift were Malaysia, Indonesia,
Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan.
Largely,
the decline in this year’s index score was the result of
fewer women considering their work roles “managerial”
(53 women per 100 men from 56 in 2007) or their income
“above the median” than they did one year ago (59 women
per 100 men from 68 in 2007).
“While
women continue to close the gap in achieving parity with
men in the areas of labor force participation and
tertiary education, women’s self-perception regarding
the subjective factors of the index—managerial positions
and above median income—have continued to dip for the
second year in a row. This appears to indicate that
women are feeling less confident about their current
status, and whether due to the economic, political or
social landscape, the direct result is that men’s
confidence and resulting advancement is increasing to
fill the gaps,” said Georgette Tan.
“As
women continue to enter the labor force and seek
tertiary education, new avenues are opened up for their
employment and their careers. However, in 2008 it
appears that women continue to perceive themselves as
not receiving the same opportunities as men. This,
combined with the shifting economic climate, has
negatively affected the scores pertaining to the
self-perception of women, resulting in a lower
MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement
score,” added Tan.
The 18th
Global Summit of Women brought together over 900 women
leaders in business, government and enterprises.
According to Irene Natividad, president of the summit,
“The MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement
clearly shows that business and government leaders in
the Asia-Pacific region should pay as much attention to
lifting women off the ‘sticky floor’ of entry-level
employment, where women feel trapped, as they do with
helping them break the ‘glass ceiling’ of senior
management.” |
