Letters | How companies can ensure gender bias doesn’t hold women back

On International Women’s Day, readers discuss the need to better support women as they move up the career ladder, migrant domestic workers’ efforts to create a more inclusive city, and the Hong Kong government’s baby bonus

Women and gender

Letters

Published: 11:30am, 8 Mar 2024

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On International Women’s Day, I am reminded of the column, “As women get richer, they are also changing the face of philanthropy” (January 22, 2022), which pointed out that rather than just providing funding, many female philanthropists are changing the giving landscape and that an “inclusive and collaborative approach enables the co-creation of solutions between givers, receivers and stakeholders”. This is a more “human-centred” way of giving, which pays greater attention to “identifying the promise of an organisation and empowering its leadership to find ways to address challenges”. Sounds good.

Women have many strengths and talents which are not fully tapped into. Overcoming gender bias in the workplace should be a goal for every company.

According to the Women in the Workplace 2023 report by McKinsey & Company and Leanin.Org on women in corporate America and Canada, women are more ambitious today than before the pandemic. Women and men at the director level are equally interested in C-suite roles. Young women are especially ambitious: nine in 10 women under the age of 30 want to be promoted to the next level, and three in four aspire to become senior leaders.

I believe the trend is similar here in Hong Kong and in mainland China. But how can we give more reasonable support to female employees and treat brilliant women fairly when it comes to career advancement?

The answer is twofold. At the upper level, company leaders should recognise this issue and put in place appropriate policies and measures to ensure the company treats women equally in recruitment and advancement.

At the general level, everyone should be educated so that they are aware of the gender issue, possible biases and the implications. I delivered a workshop on “unconscious bias” at a Swedish company in Shanghai in January , which was attended by almost all the local staff, including the company’s leadership. We spent the most time on gender bias when discussing unconscious biases.

Both in the East and the West, companies still have a long way to go in supporting women’s career advancement. The McKinsey survey showed that women’s representation in C- suite, senior vice-president and vice-president positions increased only 6 percentage points, 4 percentage points and 4 percentage points respectively in 2023 as compared to 2018.

These figures are disappointing, and show much more needs to be done.

Fion Yip, Guangzhou

Migrant workers show the power of mutual support

I first encountered the label “ethnic minority” when I arrived in Hong Kong from Indonesia for my secondary education. The numerous instances of scrutiny from others due to my ethnic background formed an indelible part of my secondary school life.

When I started interacting with the migrant domestic worker (MDW) community a few years ago, my initial thought was that we faced similar challenges as an “ethnic minority”, but I realised that the label “foreign domestic helper” caused more bias to surface. It’s ironic as their role in our society is so critical – bolstering Hong Kong’s households by caring for children and elderly parents, and undertaking important domestic duties. Most migrant domestic workers are women who left their families to assume responsibility for someone else’s family. Besides being undervalued, many experience racial bigotry and gender bias.

My early days with PathFinders, an NGO that works with migrant workers, left me astounded as I could not reconcile myself to how pregnancy, a normal life event, could escalate into a significant crisis for these women. Many come to us feeling helpless and distressed. Gender bias against women in the workplace is still sadly prevalent in Hong Kong. Many women, especially migrant domestic workers, still face discrimination or termination from their jobs for being pregnant or a new mother.

Working closely with our MDW ambassadors, who we train to be community leaders, has been a transformative experience for me. These women are tenacious, determined and accomplished. In their unique ways, they are shaping an inclusive culture in Hong Kong, whether by promoting awareness of maternity rights and protections through outreach, by providing a platform for domestic workers to express themselves through writing or by sharing their stories on social media. Countless women’s self-esteem has been raised, and their capabilities actualised, in the nurturing environment of empathy and inclusion created by these leaders.

Today, let’s reflect on the progress made, particularly by migrant domestic worker leaders, in promoting diversity and inclusion for women in Hong Kong. MDW leaders’ creative leadership and transformative efforts have truly empowered numerous women and promoted positive change – and in so doing create a kinder, more inclusive future not only for women of all backgrounds, but for our next generation in Hong Kong too.

Zachra Chairul Annam, MDW ambassadors’ coordinator, PathFinders, Hong Kong

New parents need help with care, not a one-time bonus

Hong Kong has seen a steadily declining birth rate in recent years, although there was an uptick in the number of births last year. To increase the birth rate, the government is offering HK$20,000 to new parents. However, I am not convinced this is a good idea.

Not only will the sum offered not go very far, young couples in Hong Kong often work long hours, with little time to provide the care that children need. This is not a problem the government’s baby bonus can solve.

What new parents need is help with caring for their children, whether through the employment of home-based caregivers or the provision of care facilities.

Sasa Chan, Tseung Kwan O

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