No progress: Female leadership representation stagnates in Hong Kong, according to business reports
Studies released by MasterCard and Community Business show that more needs to be done to get women into leading positions in Hong Kong firms
No progress has been made in female representation in business leadership positions in the past year in Hong Kong, according to two reports released on Tuesday.
There were 50.8 women for every 100 male business managers in the city, a figure unchanged from the last two years, according to the MasterCard Index of Women’s Advancement 2016 report. The figure fluctuated between 45.2 and 49.6 from 2010 to 2013 before hitting a plateau in 2014.
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Looking only at company directors in blue-chip companies, the Women on Boards Hong Kong Report 2016 by the group Community Business showed female representation on the boards of Hong Kong’s top 50 companies listed on the Hang Sang Index remained stagnant at 11.1 per cent from last year, after rising steadily from 8.9 per cent in 2009.
Hong Kong fell behind Malaysia and India, which recorded 13.4 per cent and 12.3 per cent female representation at director level in leading blue-chip companies.
Malaysia set a quota of 30 per cent for women on boards of listed companies, while India said there should be at least one female director in top firms.
When the pool is widened to include business managers, Hong Kong fared better than Malaysia and India, which recorded figures of 28.5 and 14.8 women per 100 men respectively.