Traditional attitudes are changing across Asia and women want to succeed in the workplace. On the road to success, Asian women seem to face more challenges than their counterparts in the US or Europe. According to the Gender Diversity Benchmark Report for Asia (2011) released by Community Business, the greatest concern of Asian working women is work-family balance.
Through a series of in-depth interviews with women working in multinational companies in Asia, the study shows that over 80% of the women interviewed aspire to senior leadership positions. The biggest concern for them to move up is work-life balance, particularly whether they could meet their families’ needs and still do a good job when taking on a more senior role. Unlike the situation in the US or Europe, work-life balance is a notable challenge for Asian women who fulfill regional or global roles as they have to work long hours to accommodate different time zones.
When asked about obstacles to career progression, almost all interviewees cited family factors such as childcare and elder care. With regard to the case of Hong Kong, the study states that affordable domestic help is available in Hong Kong and plays a key role in enabling working mothers to return to work. However, this ready availability of domestic help can also be a double-edged sword working against the work-life balance of women. Employers tend to assume that women are relieved of their parental duties, so do not need to rush home to see their children. In addition the long working hours culture of Hong Kong and the general acceptance that you need to put in more hours the more senior you are makes work-life balance an issue and poses challenges around how to manage having a family and a career.
In looking at the role of companies, most of the participating companies in this study have programmes for women such as flexible work arrangements. But they are not widely adopted or have to be individually negotiated with a supervisor. Companies are advised to remain flexible and provide an enabling environment that supports women to succeed. Possible enablers include: leadership commitment to gender diversity, networks, raising the visibility of women, mentoring, elimination of gender bias and including men in the discussion to retain women.