“There’s an attitude that, if you’re a woman with young children, you can’t do it.”—Karen O’Duil

Women’s struggle to reach the top isn’t entirely due to their role as wives and mothers. The study of MBA graduates cited earlier found that women lag behind men in advancement and compensation regardless of whether they have children.

Most of the women we spoke to acknowledged that it was difficult for a woman to succeed and earn respect in a male-dominated industry, often due to entrenched attitudes and stereotypes.

While few women felt they’d suffered direct discrimination, several had come face to face with prejudices. Karen O’Duil, for example, has less domestic responsibility than many women as her husband is the primary career at home. However, she still faces barriers in the form of attitudes about what women can achieve. “For challenging roles and jobs that involve travel, there’s an attitude that, if you’re a woman with young children, you can’t do it, that you wouldn’t be interested in new challenges.”

Boonsiri Somchit-Ong from Malaysia has had similar experiences. “Some Asian bosses view women in the workplace in a more traditional role; for example, thinking you shouldn’t earn more than your husband, that you’re just earning pocket money.”

Simply the fact of being in a minority can lead to a sense of isolation and make it harder for women to fit in and take part in corporate life.

Fortunately, many organizations are taking steps to support women and remove some of these barriers. Talking about her employer, Sandhya Rajapakse from Sri Lanka said, “Because it’s a multinational organization, it has established structures and procedures which are transparent, and practices equal treatment at all levels. Therefore, the organizational internal climate did not provide a significant challenge. In fact, it was a key factor for successful progression.”

Irelan Tam has had a similarly positive experience: “My organization focuses a lot on diversity, and there is a Global Women Leadership Initiative Council,” she explains. “So, I don’t see any discrimination, and we have a lot of women leaders in the organization.

“Especially in Asia Pacific [excluding Japan], we have approximately 50 percent of women on the management board.”

Working in Asia

There are also some practical issues for women working in Asia. Many companies work internationally, across different time zones, which can mean working long, antisocial hours that don’t fit well with family life. Global organizations often require staff to speak other languages, as Amy Lam explains. “We have to get used to speaking, writing and listening in English. When I mentor university students, I always encourage them to spend more time on learning languages.”

Our survey shows that there is little difference between the strategies used by women and men in the East to develop their careers. However, when comparing strategies used by women in the West and women in the East, there are some interesting differences.

For example, 83 percent told us they have sought international experience, compared with 43 percent in the West, and 84 percent have regularly sought to change their employer to gain promotion or experience, compared with 60 percent in the West.

The proportion of women leaders varies across the globe, as the following chart of female Cima fellows shows. While the figures suggest that it’s easier for women to succeed in some Asian countries, many of the women we spoke to in this region felt they had had to struggle against outdated attitudes about the role of women. In total, Cima has 65,000 female members and students across 168 counties.

Several of the women we interviewed discussed the challenge of having to adapt their working style when working for multinational companies or working overseas.

One Chinese woman, for example, felt she’d had to break away from her “inward facing” culture and become more outgoing when she worked in the US and Europe.

Similarly, Garris Chen, who has worked for companies in four different countries, has found the culture in each very different. “Compared with the Japanese firm, the US company practices and believes in empowerment,” she explains. “They have proper delegation of authority and enabled me to have the autonomy to perform my task within the delegation given. Now I am working for a German company, and things are more structured and better planned. Processes are standardized and properly documented to facilitate compliance.”

All those women who had worked abroad stressed the value of this experience. One of the women we spoke to advised that, when working with people from different backgrounds, it’s vital to be “aware of your culture and how others view it, as well as open-minded and accommodating of other cultures.”

This regular weekly column from the UK-based, 90-year-old Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, or Cima, is meant to expand and enhance the diversity of views on current issues in the financial world, which has been facing some of its toughest challenges the past few years. Cima officers and members will take turns writing the Monday column. Cima is the organization behind the Global Business Challenge, meant to test the strategic business skills of students globally, part of Cima’s vision to develop future talent, and targeting university undergraduates.