Women in the workplace: The Singapore way

SMU Office of Business Development Vice President, Professor of Finance (Practice) and Business Families Institute Academic Director Annie Koh was interviewed for a special feature on women in the workplace. The article noted that while Singapore has outperformed its Asian peers in closing the gender workplace and pay gap over the last decade, women in Singapore still lag behind many of their Asian counterparts in some areas, especially in terms of female participation on management boards. Prof Koh, who has been working on the issue of gender equality for years, highlighted that some women who have taken time off for their own family issues, risk being penalised for not getting as much exposure as their male counterparts who did not take the time off. She added that this might cause some women to end up having the “either/or mentality” - "choosing either the life of a professional or the life of a mother". However, she stressed that it does not have to be like that as the government is encouraging companies to bring women into the workforce. Meanwhile, SMU postgraduate student Vithiiya Gajandran [(Master of Science in Management)] also said that it is much harder to have kids and a career in Singapore now than it used to be, which she attributed to the increasingly competitive workforce.