Last week we asked our readers whether women stand a better chance of success in Asia’s banking industry compared to the US or Europe. Your answer was by no means unequivocal, but on balance you reckon they do.
We asked the question as part of our Women in Banking poll, which we launched last week. Since then, we’ve received plenty of comments that prove sexism is alive and well in Asia, but for various reasons women nevertheless seem to have a fairer chance of getting into that coveted corner office out here. Elsewhere on our website today we are, for instance, writing about the promotion of Wei Christianson to co-CEO for Asia-Pacific ex-Japan at Morgan Stanley.
Old-school ties certainly matter less in cosmopolitan cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore, and domestic helpers make it easier to be a working mum, but Asia is still far from a meritocracy. We will explore the lot of Asia’s women bankers in greater detail when we reveal the results of our ongoing poll.
Overall, 60% of our readers said women find it easier to succeed in Asia, compared to 40% who disagreed.
Photo provided by AFP.