Volume 2 Issue 1 Gender Equality

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Today, over 70% of women in Singapore agree that gender discrimination exists in the workplace. However, men face challenges too. Locally, male pre-school teachers make up only 1% of the total pool of early childhood educators.

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So, can gender equality be achieved in Singapore?

NO, LONG WAY TO GO!	YES, WE ARE ON TRACK TO ACHIEVE IT!
1. Not everyone is supportive. 1 in 3 Singaporean men believe feminism does more harm than good and that traditional masculinity is under threat. A quarter of Singaporeans do not believe that gender inequality exists.	1. Advocacy and Legislation Singapore launched the Conversations on Singapore Women’s Development in 2020 and the 2022 White Paper on Women’s Development, which covered issues from elective egg freezing to having more Women in various fields.
2. Gendered expectations affect mindsets and behaviours One survey showed that 2 in 5 people (both men and women) believe that men should pay for their dates. Approximately only 2% of women surveyed proposed to their male partners, and two thirds of women feel they must wait for their partner to make their engagement official, even though 98% think of themselves as completely equal to their partners.	2. Promoting gender equality at the workplace Currently, less than 30 percent of all researchers worldwide are women. In Singapore, women form 41% of the total STEM intake in autonomous universities. However, only 58% of women with STEM qualifications work in related jobs, compared with 70% for men. More can be done to spotlight the achievements of Singaporean women in Science and Technology. Some companies support policies which incentivise diversity hiring, such as Facebook and Microsoft.

NO, LONG WAY TO GO!

YES, WE ARE ON TRACK TO ACHIEVE IT!

1. Not everyone is supportive.
1 in 3 Singaporean men believe feminism does more harm than good and that traditional masculinity is under threat. A quarter of Singaporeans do not believe that gender inequality exists.

1. Advocacy and Legislation
Singapore launched the Conversations on Singapore Women’s Development in 2020 and the 2022 White Paper on Women’s Development, which covered issues from elective egg freezing to having more Women in various fields.

2. Gendered expectations affect mindsets and behaviours
One survey showed that 2 in 5 people (both men and women) believe that men should pay for their dates.

Approximately only 2% of women surveyed proposed to their male partners, and two thirds of women feel they must wait for their partner to make their engagement official, even though 98% think of themselves as completely equal to their partners.

2. Promoting gender equality at the workplace
Currently, less than 30 percent of all researchers worldwide are women. In Singapore, women form 41% of the total STEM intake in autonomous universities. However, only 58% of women with STEM qualifications work in related jobs, compared with 70% for men. More can be done to spotlight the achievements of Singaporean women in Science and Technology.

Some companies support policies which incentivise diversity hiring, such as Facebook and Microsoft.

Gender discrimination affects both men and women

In Singapore, women earned 4.3 percent less than men in 2020. Women also face various types of physical, sexual, and online harm. A 2021 survey showed that 2 in 5 workers encountered some form of workplace sexual harassment in the preceding five years. Such harassment has extended to the online space as well, with 163 new cases of technology-facilitated sexual violence against women reported in 2021.
Women in the modern economy cope with a “triple shift”: apart from work, there is raising kids and caring for elderly parents. A Mckinsey study found that the ‘double shift’ of housework and childcare on top of work is increasing for women and mothers are three times as likely as fathers to do most of the housework and caregiving. Locally, we have higher labour-force participation rates from women and Singapore’s full-time female employment rate has been rising steadily over the past 10 years, but women still bear the bulk of the caregiving burden, at the expense of their careers, income and savings.
In female-dominated fields like nursing, male nurses face stigma, while female nurses still struggle with a gender pay gap even though they make up the majority of staff.
Stay-at-home fathers in Singapore face stigma. Family policies in Singapore continue to signal that childcare is a woman’s responsibility and reinforce gender stereotypes.

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Recommended Resources

Explore the resources below to find out more about gender equality.

Videos

CNA. (2022, March). Gender Equality Starts at Home: Masagos Zulkifli. Retrieved 2022, July 27.

CNA Insider. (2022, March). Women in Asia Defy Norms In Gender Equality Strive. CNA Correspondent. Retrieved 2022, July 27.

TEDx Talks. (2022, June 28). Risks of the Gender Equality Business Case . Pascal Kornfuehrer . TEDxIntlSchoolDüsseldorfWomen. Retrieved 2022, July 27.

Harvard Business Review. (2019, September 24). When Will We Reach Gender Equality? Retrieved 2022, July 27.

TEDx Talks. (2019, September 13). Why Gender Equality is Not Just About Women . Caroline Strachan . TEDxFolkestone. Retrieved 2022, July 27.

Websites

Global Gender Gap Narrowing, But Still 132 Years to Reach Parity
Global Gender Gap Narrowing, But Still 132 Years to Reach Parity. (2022, July). International Women’s Day. Retrieved 2022, July 27.

Ten Things to Know About Gender Equality
Krishnan, Mekala, et al. (2020, September 21). Ten Things to Know About Gender Equality. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved 2022, July 27.

Commentary: What’s Behind Varying Attitudes About Gender Equality in Singapore
Mathews, Matthew. (2021, October 3). Commentary: What’s Behind Varying Attitudes About Gender Equality in Singapore. Institute of Policy Studies. Retrieved 2022, July 27.

Sexual Violence in Singapore: A Crisis
Sexual Violence in Singapore: A Crisis. (2021, September 8). Kontinentalist. Retrieved 2022, August 10.

Podcasts

Reviewing Essential Feminist Book Titles with Amanda Chong
Something Private. (2022, February 17). Reviewing Essential Feminist Book Titles with Amanda Chong. Retrieved 2022, August 10.

Episode 18: Dismantling Patriarchy – Close Encounters and Imperfect Strategies
Batliwala, Srilatha, et al. (2021, August 11). Episode 18: Dismantling Patriarchy – Close Encounters and Imperfect Strategies. Retrieved 2022, July 27.

Breaking Bias to Build a More Gender-Equal World
Lagarde, Christine, & Shafik, Minouche. (2022, March 5). Breaking Bias to Build a More Gender-Equal World. Retrieved 2022, July 27.

How COVID Deepened Gender Inequality
Radio Davos. (2021, March 31). How COVID Deepened Gender Inequality. Retrieved 2022, July 27.

YWLChats
Young Women’s Leadership Connection. (2022). YWLChats playlist. Retrieved 2022, August 22.

NLB eBooks

	Recommended Titles
	The Double X Economy: The Epic Potential of Empowering Women Scott, Linda. (2020). The Double X Economy: The Epic Potential of Empowering Women. Faber & Faber. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).
	Mother of Invention: How Good Ideas Get Ignored in a World Built for Men Marçal, Katrine. (2021). Mother of Invention: How Good Ideas Get Ignored in a World Built for Men. HarperCollins Publishing. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).
	The Authority Gap: Why Women Are Still Taken Less Seriously Than Men, and What We Can Do About It Sieghart, Mary Ann. (2021). The Authority Gap: Why Women Are Still Taken Less Seriously Than Men, and What We Can Do About It. Transworld. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).
	Awakening the Rainmaker: A Guide to Gender Equality Anand, Nishta. (2021). Awakening the Rainmaker: A Guide to Gender Equality. Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).
	What Works: Gender Equality by Design Bohnet, Iris & Lefkow, Laurel. (2019). What Works: Gender Equality by Design. Dreamscape Media. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the Audiobook).
	All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers, and the Myth of Equal Partnership Lockman, Darcy. (2019). All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers and the Myth of Equal Partnership. HarperCollins. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).
	The Time Has Come: Why Men Must Join the Gender Equality Revolution Kaufman, Michael. (2019). The Time Has Come: Why Men Must Join the Gender Equality Revolution. Catapult. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).
	The Power of Women: Why Gender Equality Works for Everyone Sarpong, June. (2021). The Power of Women: Why Gender Equality Works for Everyone. London: Mira. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).
	Sugarbread Jaswal, Balli Kaur. (2018). Sugarbread. Singapore: Epigram Books. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).
	Madonnas and Mavericks: Power Women in Singapore Chen, Loretta. (2017). Madonnas and Mavericks: Power Women in Singapore. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish International. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).
	The Goddess in the Living Room Latha. (2014). The Goddess in the Living Room. Singapore: Epigram Books. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).
	Mum Is Where the Heart Is Jin, You. (2019). Mum Is Where the Heart Is. Singapore: Epigram Books. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).
	Invisible Women: Exposing data bias in a world designed for men. Perez, Caroline C. (2019). Invisible Women: Exposing data bias in a world designed for men. Random House. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).
	Why we march: Signs of protests and hope – Voices from the Women’s March Artisan. (2017). Why we march: Signs of protests and hope – Voices from Women’s March. Retrieved from OverDrive. (myLibrary ID is required to access the eBook).

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Gender Equality

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