Close to 70 Asian and international banks took part in Asiamoney’s 2021 survey, providing data about their regional staff numbers. Among the respondents, women account for just over 55% of the payroll on average, up from about 50% in the 2020 survey.
There has been progress at the middle-management and senior-management levels too.
Among the banks listed as Leaders for Women by Asiamoney, the proportion of women in senior management has risen from an average of 37% last year to 42% in 2021, while at the vice-president level, their representation has increased from 47% in 2020 to 49% this year.
The improvement is encouraging and shows that the banking industry can shed its long-held image of being a male-dominated sector and replace it with one that is more gender-balanced.
For this report, Asiamoney’s journalists spoke to nearly 50 female and male bankers around the region and across various markets and business lines, and found some interesting dynamics – as well as shortcomings.
Asiamoney hopes [to] show the progress being made, as well as the work that needs to be done
First, Southeast Asia is a hotspot for women in the financial services industry: participating banks in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines have workforces skewed towards women.
Second,