Board Gender Diversity in ASEAN

Abstract

Board gender diversity has improved across all regions over the last two decades. In the early 2000s, there were only a handful of countries in Western Europe where women held more than ten percent of board seats. Today, many countries exceed the double-digit threshold. There is also increasing awareness among businesses, governments, institutional investors and the public about the need to build more inclusive workplaces in general, all the way up to the highest echelons of management and directorships. Diversity can provide benefits to firms and raises both the quantity and quality of female leadership. This study focuses on six countries in the ASEAN region, and includes one regional non-ASEAN member, China, to provide a point of comparison. Most of these countries have made important strides towards achieving greater gender diversity in the boardroom.