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Job opportunities, pay not the same for women

Job opportunities, pay not the same for women

Serene Goh

11 March 2007 | Straits Times

Surveys show Singapore women closing gap in education but trailing in taking up managerial posts

SINGAPORE women may be lifting their educational level but they are still bumping into the glass ceiling and getting short-changed on pay compared with male colleagues.

A range of international surveys related to International Women's Day last Thursday showed men are faring better on the job front.

MasterCard's MasterIndex of Women's Advancement 2007 noted that while Singapore women were closing the gap in terms of education, they trailed when it came to undertaking managerial jobs, despite a booming economy and tight labour market.

Women here - along with those in Australia, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand - were also less confident of their earning abilities compared to a year ago, the study showed.

'Women still perceive themselves as not getting the same opportunities as men when it comes to managerial positions and median income,' said Ms Georgette Tan, a vice-president of communications with MasterCard Worldwide.

Singapore also fared poorly in a World Economic Forum report ranking overall gender equality. The country ranked 65th out of 115 countries, behind Britain, Canada and Botswana but ahead of France, Japan and Yemen.

When it comes to being on par with men in education, the same study ranked Singapore women at 86 - ahead of Zimbabwe but behind Latvia.

But their economic participation and opportunities rated better - 45th, ahead of Israel, Ireland and Hungary, but behind Jamaica, Sweden and Norway.

Pay equality for women in general still seems an age away. Or about 150 years, according to an estimate in a report by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics released last year.

That study found that by the age of 30, men usually earn about 20 per cent more than women. It blamed ineffective government policies and continued discrimination worldwide, pointing out that even women who work full-time and do not take career breaks still earn 12 per cent less than their male colleagues.

The report's author, Professor Alan Manning, said: 'The problem is not that women are choosing one career rather than another. It is that they are continuing to choose family over career.'

But the United Nations is slightly more optimistic about eradicating income disparity.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said the pace towards gender equality was 'glacial' despite the UN Charter having proclaimed gender equality more than 60 years ago.

Ms Migiro told an International Women's Day gathering in New York that simple projections showed that 'we would achieve gender balance...in 2071'.

Her solution: Be bold, be creative, mean business. 'It means making more innovative and more determined efforts to recruit and retain qualified women,' she said, by implementing flexible work arrangements.

If you had one wish for Singaporean women, what would it be? 'That Singapore will recognise women as individuals equal to men and that we will no longer be stereotyped as homemakers.' MRS WEE WAN JOO, president, Singapore Council of Women's Organisations

'That women will be able to enjoy a good balance of yin and yang in their lives - be it at home, relationships or at the workplace.'' MRS YU-FOO YEE SHOON, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports

'That we will learn to take care of ourselves as much as we take care of all those people around us.' MRS LIM HWEE HUA, Minister of State for Finance and Transport

How the Republic stacks up

Overall gender equality

The country was ranked 65th out of 115 countries, behind Britain, Canada and Botswana but ahead of France, Japan and Yemen in a World Economic Forum report.

Being on par with men in education

Singapore women ranked 86 - ahead of Zimbabwe but behind Latvia (World Economic Forum).

Economic participation and opportunities

Rated 45th, ahead of Israel, Ireland and Hungary, but behind Jamaica, Sweden and Norway (WorldEconomic Forum).