The Reykjavik Index for Leadership measures how society views men and women in terms of their suitability for leadership. A score of 100 indicates complete agreement that men and women are equally suited for leadership across the economy, and any score less than 100 indicates societal prejudice. The latest report presents findings based on the attitudes of over 14,000 respondents across 14 countries, and Singapore scored 66 out of 100.
SCWO’s Engagement Forum and Workshop
Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO), SCWO, in collaboration with Kantar Public, organised an Engagement Forum and Workshop to discuss Singapore’s inaugural findings within the Index and chart future plans to increase women’s representation in leadership positions. The actions detailed in the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s (MSF) White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development released in 2022 have helped to address challenges, such as achieving board diversity. Koh Yan Ping, CEO of SCWO, said, “SCWO has been consistently promoting progress on women leadership in order to overcome entrenched gender stereotypes and to remove unconscious bias. To achieve that, figures and statistics are essential tools in shaping public policy and social progress, which is why we are very excited.”
“We look forward to collaborating with strategic partners like Kantar Public to strengthen local gendered research, using these findings as basis for public engagements and building capabilities of member women organisations of SCWO – fulfilling our vision and mission of Equal Space, Equal Voice, and Equal Worth.”
Sandra Lim, Managing Director, Kantar Public, said, “We are extremely honoured to be named as SCWO’s knowledge partner in creating a more gender-equal Singapore. Our research aims at better understanding the underlying prejudice that continues to surround female leadership, contributing insights required for decision making in our society in hopes for a better, fairer society where both women and men have an equal opportunity to lead.”
Prevalent Prejudices Against Women in Leadership Roles
The Index confirmed that women are still prejudiced against women leaders, and men remained more so, with a nine-point difference between women and men on the Index. Only 30% of respondents reported being very comfortable with a woman being Head of Government, Minister, or CEO of a major or SME company. Women are perceived to be better leaders in traditionally female-dominated spaces such as Childcare, Fashion, and Beauty, as compared to High-tech, Artificial Intelligence, Gaming, Engineering, Defence and Police, and more. These findings of occupational segregation further suggest that women are also prejudiced against themselves, largely deviating from careers that are based on STEM.
Singapore’s Standing Globally
In comparison to the average score of 72 among G7 countries, Singapore scored lower at 66 on the Index. In the region, Singapore fared better than Indonesia but is slightly behind Thailand. The Index confirmed the need for more efforts to generate greater awareness and to drive mindset change among both genders and the younger generation, as called for in the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development.
The report’s findings highlight the prevalence of gender biases in Singapore’s society. The fact that women are seen as better suited to certain industries shows that stereotypical gender roles still exist in the country. The report also suggests that these biases may have led women to self-select out of certain industries such as STEM. Furthermore, the fact that men are more biased against women leaders than women themselves suggests that both genders need to work together to overcome these biases.
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SCWO’s efforts to collaborate with strategic partners like Kantar Public to strengthen local gendered research, and to build the capabilities of member women’s organizations of SCWO is a step in the right direction. These initiatives will help generate greater awareness and promote mindset change among both genders and the younger generation. The actions outlined in the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development released in 2022 will also play a vital role in addressing these issues and promoting gender equality in leadership positions.
