International Women's Day: What it means for female business leaders
SINGAPORE — March 8 marks International Women's Day and is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
As the IWD campaign theme #ChooseToChallenge this year goes, "a challenged world is an alert world. And from challenge comes change".
These women executives, who are challenging expectations and stereotypes while navigating the corporate ladder, share their thoughts on #ChooseToChallenge.
Stephanie Davis, vice president, Google Southeast Asia
My mother and Judy Collins were the first to show me that women should help and empower each other. Many women have helped shape who I am today – Jane Goodall is one such woman, who notably reminds me that hope is core to the leader I choose to be. Women who’ve helped me inspire me to give back.
I met Srey Nich when volunteering in Cambodia for the Cambodian Children’s Fund, a young garbage picker who earned a few cents a day for her family. Her grandmother and mother decided to forgo the extra income, instead allowing her to attend school, and allowing me to help. Srey Nich stands for what girls can accomplish when given an opportunity and access to education.
So I #ChooseToChallenge those who can, to support one another and give back.
Caecilia Chu, co-founder and chief executive officer of Youtrip
This year’s International Women’s Day holds a deeper meaning to me than ever before. As we slowly recover from the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, I observe women around me plagued with deep-rooted challenges formed by societal biases and gender stereotypes. Case in point, women working from home are pressured with the added expectations to balance both their career and household.
In a time of crisis, it’s imperative that we band together and #ChooseToChallenge the stereotypes cast upon women. The first step that society can take, is for everyone to do their part in providing women the support they deserve. Likewise, I encourage women to never let the inequalities and biases distract them from their goals and dreams. It is only then, we can progress as a society towards true gender parity.
As a female leader in a male-dominated industry, I hold a responsibility to my team and the women around me, to ensure we provide a safe environment to support our female colleagues in the workforce. Here at YouTrip, there is no room for gender biases. We’ve built an inclusive culture making sure that anyone, woman or man, who joins the team feels equally respected, trusted, and supported. In fact, we have a close to 50-50 gender balance across our offices, which is something we put in the conscious effort to achieve.
Geraldine Kor, managing director, South Asia and country managing director Singapore of Telstra
The #ChooseToChallenge theme is a strong message, and call to action, for us all to address unconscious bias, question stereotypes, and help forge an inclusive world.
I am personally very passionate about this topic as a female leader in tech and business. To me, gender equality is invaluable, as diversity of thought spurs innovation.
As a newly-appointed leader at Telstra, I am committed to challenging stereotypes and creating safe spaces for people to voice their opinions. As a champion for Telstra’s Brilliant Connected Women’s committee, I will continue to provide a forum for employees to connect, build relationships and gain mentoring opportunities for career progression. Together with our “All Roles Flex” programme to provide flexible working arrangements for both men and women, our people will be able to more effectively balance the demands of office and home life.
Juliet Zhu, Group Chief Financial Officer, Carsome
I welcome the theme #ChooseToChallenge as it is very apt, especially for the women in the automotive industry. Globally, women only represent 20 per cent of the automotive workforce, dropping below 10 per cent at executive level. The consequence of this severe underrepresentation is that the industry continues to alienate women customers despite the fact that women are also buying and selling cars.
Carsome is always about challenging industry norms by doing things differently. I have been constantly working with our leadership team to improve our recruitment funnel for females, as well as career progression tracks for our female employees. Today, 35 per cent of our senior positions are held by women, a number far above industry average. With this, we hope to challenge gender stereotypes and shape the future of the automotive industry, as there is so much more we can collectively do as an industry to better understand and engage women customers.
Jane Sun, chief executive officer of Trip.com Group
Women in leadership, especially strong successful female leaders, shouldn’t be unique or rare, yet they often are. Subtle, and sometimes obvious, gender bias affect the chances of achieving leadership positions in organisations.
We can all do more to ensure we have a diversity of voices in boardrooms, offices and workspaces around the world.
I am an ardent believer that the most successful teams are those made up with a balance of genders. Our goal in pursuing gender equality is to ensure equal opportunity and rewards for success for all individuals, regardless of gender. Women in leadership have global impact, and we must continue to champion them and the achievements of women around the world.
Leornie Quek, managing director of Accenture, Singapore
International Women's Day has always been an important day for me and this year's theme on challenging inequality comes at an especially critical time. The pandemic has had a particularly significant impact on women, pushing the timeline to reach gender equality back by 50 years. It is now more pressing than ever to call out gender biases when we see them, be they in the workplace or otherwise. I am heartened to see that today's workplaces are offering more flexible ways of working, enabling employees to navigate their personal and professional responsibilities better.
I am proud to work at a company that not only recognises but also champions the importance of pushing for equality. Accenture's ambition to be the most inclusive and diverse company in the world is no easy ask and I'm glad to be part of a team that accelerates a culture of equality at every level.
Agnes Tan, vice president, human resources, Asia Pacific of VF Corporation
An acquaintance once asked if I would consider an amazing talent for an opening, before quickly adding that the prospective hire still looked youthful despite her advanced years, wondering if her age would pose a problem. Biases such as these, perceived or otherwise, do little to advance equality for women in the workplace.
Addressing this, both organisations and individual employees can look at three basics to support female colleagues. Designing and supporting women-led initiatives, investing and participating in growth and development opportunities for women at all levels, and leading from the top with measurable commitments, are all important components of creating a better workplace.
With this, we can #ChooseToChallenge any biases or instances of inequality that cross our paths, championing progress and professional development for our colleagues, and being role models for the youth and future generations.
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