8^th of March is International Woman’s day, which celebrates the achievements of women around the world.  Women have been contributing actively to the economy, sociocultural and political factors over the decades. There has been a significant rise of women in the workforce over the decades, and moreover, a rise of women in senior managerial roles.

According to a survey conducted in 2020, the average percentage of women in South East Asia who hold senior to director level roles are about 35%, which was up from 28% in the past few years. Senior management roles were traditionally male dominated, however with the growing awareness and increase of knowledge towards diversity, the workplace gender dynamic is slowly changing.

Narrowing the wage gap

 The increase of women within the workforce has been seen as the most economic change in the past century. A study conducted has shown that past year 1978, working women became society’s norm. With the increase of women within the workforce, this influenced a significant growth in wages and increase in productivity levels.

There are many factors which contribute to wage gaps, and discrimination is one of the most common. In some sectors, gender-based pay discrimination is common and this discourages open discussion on wages. This discourages women from seeking employment.

Wage gaps are narrowed when women have obtained a higher level of education than men (Eg University degrees). Unions can also help to narrow the gap due to their influence and greater leverage in fighting discrimination against certain groups, bargaining for working conditions and pushing for changes in the work place. With the changes in working environments, this encourages more women to seek employment. In some cases, governments have implemented regulations to encourage fair employment practices.

Industries dominated by women

There are certain sectors which women dominate compared to men. According to research, the top sectors are education, social services, healthcare and hospitality. However, the landscape is also slowly changing where traditionally male dominated industries are seeing an increase of women joining the ranks. Such examples include the tech sector; Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Graphic Production manager. Aside from tech, other jobs include; Customer Service Manager, Environmental Consultant, Law/Paralegal roles.

With these changes in the landscape, it is hoped that women will continue to strive in the workplace and rise above, combat discrimination, wage/gender gaps and diminish the gender norms and stereotypes.