More Singapore women needed in top-paying jobs in high-growth industries: McKinsey

Singapore

INCREASING female representation in top-paying jobs and high-growth industries could add more than S$26 billion to Singapore's economy by 2025 - representing extra growth of 5 per cent per year.

This is according to a new report released on Tuesday from McKinsey Global Institute, which found that Singaporean women are underrepresented in top-paying jobs in high-growth industries.

To address this, universities and companies should implement measures to encourage girls and young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the report noted.

According to McKinsey Global Institute, women in Singapore are least represented in high-growth sectors, with the exception of the finance and insurance industries. These two industries have a near parity female-to-male ratio of 1.10.

The report also calculated a gender parity score for all Asia-Pacific countries using 15 indicators of gender inequality in work and three types of gender equality in society: essential services and enablers of economic opportunity; legal protection and political voice; and physical security and autonomy.

Singapore's score was 0.68, well above the Asia-Pacific overall of 0.44 and slightly lagging behind the Philippines, which has a best in region score of 0.73.

"I actually think Singapore . . . does well in STEM," said Diaan-Yi Lin, managing partner of McKinsey's Singapore office. "Singapore has a lot of the structural things done right. For example, we have all-girls schools. The probability of girls in an all-girls schools continuing with science is much higher than in a mixed school. We know that the participation in JC is still very good. But for whatever reason, they still shy away from (STEM) jobs."

The report found that Singaporean girls are relatively less interested in STEM careers compared with their male counterparts.

For example, only 32 per cent of current undergraduates in the National University of Singapore's (NUS) School of Computing are female. Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) demographic is similar, with women making up just 27 per cent of its 2015-16 computer science course.

University policies can be reviewed to encourage women to participate in STEM fields, the report suggested. Companies also have a role to play. For instance, firms can shift internal policies to help women pursue STEM careers even if they do not have a STEM background.

Women can also take ownership of their own careers. Ms Lin suggested using SkillsFuture credits to enrol in STEM-related programmes.