There are, however, other reasons that could complicate the situation and explain why women are not taking on such roles, said Hung, who is now CEO of Alitheia Partners, a consulting firm for start-ups and small and medium enterprises. “Sometimes, it depends on the stage of their lives and their priorities, whether it’s their children or parents. They have choices to make to balance their priorities,” she said.
Even with a supportive management team, disgruntled colleagues are another hurdle that women in senior roles have to deal with.
“I don’t take offense, but sometimes when you get the role, people make casual remarks about how some people only got the role because she’s a woman,” Hung said, “So, women have to work extra hard.”
The solutions to the problem, Hung said, lie in the hands of upper management and women themselves. She added that the onus is on women in business and female entrepreneurs to support each other and build networks to accelerate their growth.
“It’s very important for the leaders to embrace diversity,” Hung said, “There are some leaders who talk about diversity but their behavior doesn’t reflect this, for example, they will have a team of eleven men in senior positions but only one female.”
“For diversity, the culture created by the leader is more important than the scorecard,” she added.
