March is International Womens’ Month and March 8 has been designated by the United Nations as International Womens’ Day.
Where are women at present in terms of “breaking the glass ceiling”? The Economist has published in March 14, 2014, its fifth “glass-ceiling index,” which is useful in providing a benchmark for progress on gender equality in the labor market. It combines data on higher education, work-force participation, pay, child-care costs, maternity and paternity rights, business-school applications and representation in senior jobs into a single measure of where women have the best—and worst chances of equal treatment in the workplace. The Philippines was not part of the study of The Economist, but it is useful to note from the said study that, “of the 29 countries included the overall picture painted by the data is that the long trend of improving conditions for working women has flat lined with the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development], a club of mostly rich countries. In 2005, 60 percent of women were in the labor force, 10 years later this ratio has edged up only slightly to 63 percent (it was 63 percent for men in both years). With relatively few women climbing the ranks, and strong old boys network helping men reach the top, female representation in well-paid and high-status jobs is closer to a third than half. And the gender wage gap—male minus female wages, divided by male wages—is still around 15 percent, meaning women as a group earn 85 percent of what men do”. (https://wwweconomist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/03dailychart-o)
In a study conducted by MasterCard (published on March 9, 2013, by GMA News) the Philippines ranked third in the Asia-Pacific region for women’s participation in the work force, having over 70 women workers for 100 men in the regular work force. Among the 14 Asia-Pacific countries surveyed, New Zealand ranked first (77.8 Index Score), followed by Australia (76.0), the Philippines (70.5), Singapore (67.5) and Taiwan (64.7), respectively. The others were Vietnam (64.4), Hong Kong (63.3), China (61.5), Thailand (61.3), Indonesia (56.5), Malaysia (54.3), India (38.0), Japan (48.1) and Korea (49.7) scored the lowest. “The index is comprised of three main indicators, which are derived from additional sub-indicators: employment [work-force participation, regular employment], education [secondary education, tertiary education] and leadership [business owners, business leaders, political leaders].”
A 2014 study of the international audit firm Grant Thornton, through local member Punongbayan & Araullo, showed that four out of 10 senior positions are filled by women, making the Philippines the third-highest employer of senior female executives worldwide, with Russia as the highest and Indonesia and Latvia tying for second place.
Fast forward to 2017. This year there are more Filipina CEOs, 37 percent compared to 23 percent last year. Chief operating officers (COO) increased to 26 percent, from 15 percent. For chief finance officers, the percentage remains at 59 percent, same as last year (cited in “Breaking The Glass Ceiling” by Raul J. Palabrica, inquirerdotnet, March 13). The trend appears to be the same with women in corporate boardrooms, as women have shown through merit or hard work (not bloodline) that they deserve their positions. The days when senior positions in companies were inherited (when COO meant “child of owner”) appear to be slowly a thing of the past. In the corporate world, women in the Philippines have ascended to the top, even without the benefit of a law or regulation giving preferential treatment or affirmative action mandating gender quotas in boardrooms.
“According to reports, at least seven countries make it mandatory for publicly traded or listed companies to adopt gender quotas in their boardrooms. Norway, France, Spain and Iceland require that women constitute 40 percent of boards of directors. Belgium and Italy have pegged it at 33 percent. In the case of France, by 2017, the quota will also apply to business that have more than 500 employees or revenues of more than €50 million (roughly P3.1 billion). Israel, the country reputed to be the first to impose the “pink quota” in 1999, requires all publicly traded companies to have at least one woman director. To date, Norway may be considered as having the strictest gender quota law: Companies that fail to meet the 40-percent women membership requirement without any justifiable reason can be ordered dissolved by order of a court.
Although aware of the need to increase the participation of women in corporate decision-making, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the so-called bastion of racial, gender and social equality, the United States, are averse to the idea of accomplishing that objective through legally mandated quotas. They prefer that the companies concerned open their boardroom doors to women at their own terms or pace, rather than because of government pressure. In 2012 Denmark went through this route by adopting a “flexi-quota” system, where the companies set their policies and target on increasing the membership of women in the board of directors, and announce these themselves to the public. Consistent with corporate governance rules, these companies regularly disclose to the public their compliance with their commitments. In the United Kingdom, regularly, authorities have adopted a voluntary approach by encouraging the top 100 listed companies to increase, by 2015, to 25 percent the representation of women in their boardrooms. If this benchmark is not met within that period, its Parliament has served notice of its intention to implement tougher measures, including the imposition of quotas”. (Palabrica, Supra)
My personal view is that women in the Philippines can get to the top, whether in the public or private sector, without affirmative action or legally mandated quotas. We have had two women presidents, a female chief justice, a feisty ombudswoman, competent women occupying senior positions in the three branches of the government.
But then, I have been blessed with the bloodline of two generations of lawyers (my father was the late Supreme Court Justice Line Mejia Patajo, and my lolo Don Domingo T. Patajo was assemblyman of Pangasinan, Second Philippine Assembly 1900-1905). I have also been blessed with mentors (both women and men) who have put me in their shoulders and offered opportunities. And my family is always my cheering squad. And being born in the year of the Dragon and with Aries as my birth sign, I have been able to rely on my fearlessness, bullishness, self-worth and clear conscience to rise above the prejudice, the insults, the challenges that is par for the course in the legal profession. But I realize that not all women are as blessed.
And so, this womens’ month, I am reminded of the advice of one of the Fortune’s Most Powerful Women, Ellyn Shook of Accenture. The advice is profound in its simplicity. “As individuals, we can put cracks in the glass ceiling. But when you invest in the women around you, you create the collective force needed to not just crack, but shatter the glass!”