PH 3rd highest in Asiapac gender equality

Lean Santos

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Filipinas are more equally represented in business and government than most of their neighbors in the Asia Pacific region, a Mastercard study shows

GENDER EQUALITY. MasterCard's Worldwide Index of Women's Advancement shows how gender equality is in different countries in terms of education, employment and leadership roles. Infographic by MasterCard

MANILA, Philippines – Filipinas are getting better employment opportunities, higher education, and equal representation in business and government offices than most of their neighbors in the Asia Pacific region, a study showed.

The Philippines ranked 3rd in terms of women’s socio-economic standing, according to the Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement report released by global financial firm MasterCard on Thursday, March 7.

The country led other Southeast Asian countries in the ranking with an overall index score of 70.5 points.

In the Asia Pacific region, New Zealand took the top spot with 77.8 index score, while Australia came in second with 76.

India and Japan were at the lower end of the spectrum with index scores of 38.0 and 48.1, respectively.

The global index measures women’s socioeconomic standing through employment opportunities, educational achievement and leadership roles in the government and private sector.

A perfect score of 100 indicates gender equality between men and women. A score less than 100 indicates that gender equality is in favor of men while a score over 100 tips it in the favor of women.

Employment, education

In terms of employment and education, Filipinas fare better than most women in the Asia Pacific region.

The Philippines ranked 4th in terms of employment with a 76.7 index score behind New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

This means that in terms of workforce participation, there are about 77 women for every 100 men employed in the country.

WOMEN'S ADVANCEMENT INDEX. Country scores for the 3 indicators. Screenshot from MasterCard study

Education, on the other hand, remains to be the banner indicator for gender equality in the country. In terms of secondary and tertiary educational achievement, the Philippines scored a perfect 100.

This indicates that educational opportunities and achievement in the country are equal and may even be better for women.

Along with the Philippines, several countries also registered perfect scores for education including New Zealand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Thailand and Myanmar.

Low scores for leadership roles

Despite the stellar numbers for education and employment, women still face barriers in taking top positions in the private sector and the government.

The Philippines ranked 3rd in this category with a 45.6 index score in the Asia Pacific region. The country ranked first in the Southeast Asian group.

New Zealand topped the list with a 51.6 index score while Australia came in second with 49.7.

The low scores reflect the kind of political and corporate landscape present in the countries surveyed, not just in the Philippines; that societies in these countries are still male-dominated.

Georgette Tan, MasterCard Asia Pacific Communications head, echoed this sentiment and said that there’s still a lot of work to do to advance women’s role in society.

“There is still a lot to be done… There are still too few women leaders in government and business, and not enough women-owned and run businesses. There are standout markets which have repeatedly improved in terms of advancing opportunities and access for women, but more needs to be done,” Tan said.

The research showed that more seats in parliament and more business opportunities, among others, are the main considerations of women in improving their socioeconomic standing in their respective societies.

The study was based on interviews conducted in 14 countries in the Asia Pacific region. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!