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Female Sexism in Asian Workplaces: What The Data Is Telling Us Now

  • Writer: Caroline Langston
    Caroline Langston
  • 2 days ago
  • 5 min read
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Across Asia, more women are working, studying and starting businesses than ever before. Yet sexism in the workplace remains stubbornly persistent, shaping who is hired, promoted, listened to and protected. Recent research from multilateral agencies and peer-reviewed studies paints a clear picture: gender bias is still embedded in organisational systems and in daily interactions, and it is costing both women and economies across the region.


The scale of the gap

Women make up roughly 38–40 per cent of total employment in Asia and the Pacific, a figure that has barely moved in three decades despite rapid economic growth. Within that, women are clustered in lower-paid, less secure roles, and are less likely to benefit from high-growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing or technology. researchrepository.ilo.org.


At the top of corporate Asia, the picture is even starker. An analysis of listed companies in five major Asia Pacific markets found that women hold only 4 per cent of CEO roles and 5 per cent of board chair positions; only two companies in the entire sample had gender balanced leadership, and just three had closed their gender pay gap. Equileap In India, a 2024 summary of McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace data reports that women occupy about one-third of junior roles but only 17 per cent of C-suite positions. The Times of India. This “leaky pipeline” is not about women’s ambition, but about the way opportunities are distributed and evaluated.


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Everyday discrimination and harassment

Sexism is not just visible at the top; it shows up in daily experiences of bias and harassment. In Singapore, a large-scale survey by advocacy group AWARE and Milieu Insight found that one in two workers had experienced some form of workplace discrimination in the previous five years, including being passed over, harassed or asked inappropriate questions about family and caregiving. AWARE


A 2025 study in Frontiers in Public Health focusing on South Asia’s garment sector found that between 30 and 40 per cent of women reported sexual harassment at work, in a context where female labour force participation is already among the lowest in the world.  Harassment ranged from unwanted comments to physical contact, and was strongly associated with poorer mental health, lower productivity and higher turnover intentions.


A broader gender-based review of workplace violence published in 2024 highlights that women globally, including in Asian settings, are disproportionately exposed to humiliation, sexual mistreatment and psychological harassment at work. PMC These behaviours are often minimised as “jokes” or “misunderstandings”, but the evidence shows they are systemic, not isolated.


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Cultural norms and structural barriers

Sexism in Asia is frequently explained away as “just culture,” but recent peer-reviewed research shows how culture and organisational design interact. A 2025 comparative study of executive leadership in Taiwan and Guatemala found that masculine workplace norms, lack of transparent promotion criteria and work-family expectations combined to keep women out of senior roles, even when formal equality policies existed. MDPI


UN ESCAP’s 2024 Beijing+30 regional review similarly concludes that gendered expectations around caregiving, long working hours and presenteeism, together with weak enforcement of anti-discrimination and harassment laws, continue to hold back women’s economic empowerment across Asia Pacific. asiapacificgender.org In practice, this can look like:


  • Informal boys’ networks determining key assignments.

  • Sexism being hidden as joking and/or these comments not being addressed adequately by leadership.

  • Lack of safe, confidential mechanisms to report harassment.

  • Reluctance to promote women of “childbearing age”.


Crucially, these patterns not only harm women; they erode psychological safety, silence dissent and reduce the diversity of perspectives organisations need to innovate.


Sexism inside Asian financial services firms

Within Asia's financial services sector, sexism in banking, private wealth asset management, and capital markets often appears not only at the hiring stage but also within organisations, embedded in daily behaviours, team cultures, and power dynamics. Peer-reviewed studies show that women in finance across Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Mumbai report disproportionately higher levels of verbal undermining, exclusion from client interactions and gendered performance standards, especially in high-pressure revenue environments. 

A recurring pattern is performance credibility gaps, where women must provide more evidence for the same evaluations, while men are granted assumed competence, particularly visible during market stress, investment committees, risk discussions, or when managing ultra-high-net-worth clients.


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Another widely reported issue is the normalisation of inappropriate comments, sexual jokes and unwanted physical proximity in informal settings such as client dinners, deal celebrations or off-site spaces that remain central to closing deals and building internal alliances. Women often experience subtle retaliation, such as being labelled difficult, losing key accounts or being excluded from high-value mandates after raising concerns.


What Organisations Can Do

The research points towards several evidence-informed actions for employers in Asia:


  1. Measure and make visible

    Collect gender-disaggregated data on recruitment, pay, performance ratings, promotions and exits. Studies in Asia show that once organisations see where women are dropping out of the pipeline, they can design targeted interventions rather than generic “women’s programmes”.Equileap

  2. Tackle harassment as a health and governance risk

    Peer-reviewed studies link harassment with anxiety, depression and absenteeism. Frontiers Clear policies, confidential reporting channels, bystander training and visible consequences for perpetrators are essential, not optional.

  3. Address bias in leadership selection

    Transparent criteria, diverse hiring panels and structured interviews reduce the space for stereotypes to influence decisions. Research on executive leadership in Asia suggests that sponsorship, not just mentoring, is critical for women to access stretch roles and P&L responsibility. MDPI+1

  4. Engage senior leaders

    Finally, sexism is sustained when those with power see it as “a woman’s issue”. Cross-regional studies emphasise that visible commitment from male and female leaders, backed by accountability for results, is one of the strongest predictors of progress. asiapacificgender.org+1


Sexism in Asian workplaces is not inevitable. The evidence shows it is the product of choices: how we design jobs, evaluate potential and respond to misconduct. Organisations that take this research seriously are not only doing the right thing for women; they are also building more resilient, innovative and sustainable businesses for the region’s future.


References 


Caroline Langston is the Co-Founder of Successful Consultants Ltd, an Executive, Personal and Career Development Coaching company in Hong Kong and New York. She is also Chief People Officer at Raffles Family Office. A specialist in Neuroleadership, Caroline is dedicated to coaching people to achieve performance success, wellness, and happiness in their careers and lives. She is degree-qualified, with a postgraduate certificate in the Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health. She is studying at King’s College London for an MSc in the same subject. With a Certificate in Professional Coaching Mastery, she is also a Professional Certified Accredited Coach (International Coaching Federation), has a Certificate in Team Coaching from the EMCC and further certifications in Neuro Linguistic Programming at Master Practitioner and Coach level. www.successCL.com   



 
 
 

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