1. UPFRONT
NEWS ANALYSIS
6 www.hrdmag.com.sg
WOMEN
ON BOARD
Despite the progress made in gender diversity,
many executive teams and boardrooms across
Singapore still lack female representation.
Lauren Acurantes looks into the challenges
women still face in the workplace
IN THEIR report, Women on Boards: Tackling
the Issue, the Diversity Action Committee
(DAC) claimed that there’s good news and
not-so-good news when it comes to female
representation in boardrooms around
Singapore.
The good news is that there is now
widespread awareness of the need to have
more women on the board, and that there has
been continuous growth in the past four years.
The not-so-good news is that it’s not
enough. Singapore is still behind many other
key developed markets, said the report,
prompting key committee figures to comment
that “Singapore’s reputation as a financial
centre is at risk”.
The DAC, which was created in 2014 to
specifically promote female representation
in leadership positions, said that only 9.7% of
companies have a gender diverse boardroom.
workplace at the mid-level, with 47% citing
the need for career breaks and 46% saying
their company lacked flexibility during
childcare years.
Additionally, one in four women take career
breaks for family reasons while only one in
10 men do.
“At the outset, HR could be hiring an
equal number of men and women, but at
the mid-level more women are exiting due
to family obligations,” explains Mira Gajraj
Mohan, regional practice director for talent
management and organisational alignment at
Willis Towers Watson.
“Companies have to look at their core
analytics and see if, as women go up the
ladder, they are keeping the right proportions,”
she adds.
Crushing gender stereotypes
Gender stereotypes are also still a prevalent
issue in Singaporean workplaces.
The Willis Towers Watson survey reports
that female leadership behaviours are rooted
in more empathetic, maternal traits, which
often do not align with traditional leadership
models.
And when women do exhibit more
‘masculine’ traits, they’re often mocked for
being ‘iron ladies’, said the report.
Recruitment specialist Robert Walters, in
its white paper, Empowering Women in the
Workplace, also reported that 49% of female
workers don’t feel like they have a strong
female role model to look up to.
The problem that presents is twofold.
Firstly, this underscores the need for more
visibility of female leaders; and secondly,
how do female workers define a ‘strong
role model’? Are women still looking for
stereotypical ‘masculine’ behaviour from
their leaders?
One study seems to back up that claim.
Randstad’s Workmonitor survey on workers’
perceptions of the gender gap found that 74%
of women in Singapore would prefer working
for a male boss.
“The Workmonitor results show a
worrying trend in this region with such strong
Compare that to the UK (21.9%), Australia
(18.1%), and Hong Kong (12.1%) and the
disparity is jarring.
Additionally, they found that when women
do get promoted, their tenure is much shorter
than that of their male counterparts.
Twenty-three per cent of male independent
directors have been on boards for more than
10 years, with the longest tenure reported at
45 years. On the other hand, only 8% of female
independent directors have been on boards for
more than 10 years. The longest tenure of a
female director reported was 21 years, almost
half that of her male counterpart.
Mid-level drain
A separate report by Willis Towers Watson
gave one possible reason as to why women
are still under-represented in the boardroom.
It found that four in 10 women exit the
“As a woman you need to drive your own
career. Don’t just wait for opportunity;
stand up and let your organisation know where
you want to go”
MariaZhang,JuniperNetworks,APAC

2. www.hrdmag.com.sg 7
preferences for having male bosses in the
workplace – despite open discussions around
the issue of gender equality going on around
the world,” says Michael Smith, managing
director of Randstad in Singapore, Hong
Kong, and Malaysia.
Darren Rushworth, managing director of
SAP Singapore, says he’s not surprised by the
findings, and adds that “if you want to make
changes in the organisation, you have to start
with the males in the organisation”.
Action plans
As the DAC report claimed, part of the good
news in terms of gender diversity in the
workforce is that more companies are aware
of the situation and are doing their part in
actively addressing the issue.
Rushworth reiterated his earlier statement
and says SAP now offers ‘Men for Women’
programs, career mentoring, and leadership
programs for women.
“On the leadership level, it’s critical that we
employ diversification and we reinforce that
throughout the organisation,” he says.
There’s also a trending push among
companies to entice mothers to re-enter the
workforce.
SAP recently rolled out its Back-to-Work
initiative enabling women who have taken
Robert Walters reports that 71% of women
consider mentoring important, while the
Willis Towers Watson report said that 55% of
the women it surveyed indicated the same.
“Women can bring a lot to the table,” says
Zhang. “We found that more female leaders
are able to get the team on board faster, and
they’re very strong in emotional intelligence.”
The DAC further added that the
government should also play a role in pushing
for more diversity in the boardroom. It urged
the Monetary Authority of Singapore to
require listed companies “to disclose their
gender diversity policies, self-set measurable
objectives, and progress made in achieving
their objectives”.
“DAC firmly believes that increased
requirements for transparency and
accountability will spur companies to adopt
a disciplined approach to diversifying their
boards at a faster pace,” it said.
career breaks to ease back into the workforce
through six-month projects.
Similarly, Standard Chartered partnered
with Mums@Work and CareerMums for
its ‘Moms Matter’ initiative, which aims
to employ mothers in various roles within
the organisation.
At Juniper Networks, Maria Zhang,
senior director of human resources in APAC,
says her company has employed someone
specifically to recruit for diversity. It also
offers workshops specifically for women,
she adds, in order to give them career advice
and mentoring.
“As a woman you need to drive your own
career. Don’t just wait for the opportunity;
stand up and let your organisation know
where you want to go,” she says.
Mentoring and coaching sessions are
key drivers in creating a female leadership
pipeline, according to several studies.
BREAKDOWN OF NEW
APPOINTMENTS
JAN 2015–JUN 2016
Source:DiversityActionCommittee,WomenonBoards:TacklingtheIssue,June2016
“If you want to make changes in the
organisation, you have to start with the
males in the organisation”
DarrenRushworth,SAPSingapore
APPOINTMENTS OF FEMALE DIRECTORS
AS PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL APPOINTMENTS (2006–16)
06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15
Jun
16
4%
7%
9%
9% 9%
12%
14%
12%
11%
10%
8%
37%
63%
31%
6%
First-time
directors
Experienced
directors
Jan15–Jun16
Male
Female