Gender equality in high-income Asian countries remains a work in progress
Paul Yip says the road is long for gender equality in Asia, as shown by the scandal of Tokyo Medical University rigging its entrance exam against women. Policymakers, the media and women’s rights groups have much work to do
It is unfortunate that Japanese women have been denied equal opportunities to pursue their interests. At the same time, the Japanese community has been deprived of the chance to be served by fine female doctors. What a waste of human resources; what a lose-lose situation.
In fact, women students outnumber men in many universities worldwide. Yet, women are still under-represented in executive roles. There are only 23 women heading Fortune 500 companies. Apparently, there is a glass ceiling women can’t break, even though research has shown that companies with more gender-balanced boardrooms tend to produce better financial results.
Also, in Hong Kong, as with other high-income Asian economies, the labour-force participation rate for women – about 50 per cent – is lower than in high-income Western countries, where it is 70 to 80 per cent. Raising the workforce participation rate would require more effort from the whole of society, though. For example, family-friendly policies, including affordable childcare and flexible working, would be needed to support working mothers.
The United Nations Development Programme has created a gender inequality index that measures reproductive health, empowerment (through higher education and parliamentary representation) and labour participation. On the index, Denmark comes second out of 159 countries. Coincidentally, it has never dropped out of the top three of the world’s happiest countries.
