From McKinsey research shows that if you compare healthcare to other industries, it was one of the best industries for women to make progress and continue to report high job satisfaction. However, women also encounter persistent obstacles to advancement, particularly for senior positions, where they remain underrepresented and become gender inequality in the workplace.
Also, the UN Women Asia-Pacific mentioned Thailand has a greater percentage of women in senior leadership positions than both the Asia-Pacific region and the global average. Thailand is also performing comparatively well when it comes to having women in the highest positions of power and many mid-market businesses in Thailand are looking to build on this trend towards equality.
Despite the fact that Thai women have held executive roles in public and private sectors, they are generally still underrepresented, especially in the parliament, government, judiciary, and administration both at national and local levels.
In rural areas, many women in Thailand remain affected by poverty, discrimination, and exploitation. They are largely concentrated in insecure and vulnerable jobs in the informal sector, including in agriculture and as own account and contributing family workers, with only a small minority in senior positions. According to the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women, discriminatory practices against women still exist in many rural areas in Thailand such as employment practices, unfair treatment of women workers, and access to resources.
However, Thailand's greatest achievement for women was the introduction of free education and access for all. More boys attend primary education than girls, but more girls finish secondary school leaving them far more likely to gain full-time employment.
Thailand's low unemployment also contributes to higher female labour participation and this correlates to a higher proportion in senior roles.
Thailand is well placed alongside its ASEAN neighbours with 15% of CEOs in the region headed by a woman, this drops to 6% in North America. This certainly provides inspiration and aspiration for Thailand's women.
Worldwide, as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused all nations to adopt remote work, healthcare companies need to increase flexibility to enable employees to fit work into their lives, which would benefit employees with more diverse needs. However, COVID-19 may negatively affect women and communities of color.
This burden and negative impact are particularly felt by women of color. Black women and men are disproportionately represented in frontline and essential care workers.
Further, the large-scale protests on racial injustice in the US this year have put issues of equity front and center. Pressure on corporate leaders to respond to this socio-political environment suggests that companies should increase efforts to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Click the link to read more about this article: McKinsey, UN Women Asia-Pacific
