MasterCard MasterIndexTM of Women’s Advancement Shows Women are Less Bullish Compared to Men in Rosy Economic Times

New Zealand Leads with the Highest Index Score MasterCard Worldwide today released the 2007 results of its MasterIndexTM of Women’s Advancement, showing that while women continue to steadily advance in labor force participation and higher education, they are less bullish in relation to holding managerial positions as compared to men. The region as a whole showed that women's socio-economic advancement dropped slightly from a score of 76.11 in 2006 to 72.09 in 2007. While composite scores in the area of labor force participation and tertiary education increased somewhat from 2006, the score for managerial positions saw a significant dip (from 70.68 in 2006 to 56.23 in 2007). The drop in score was a result of a slight dip in women’s perceptions coupled with a surge in optimism from men towards being in managerial positions. The score for above median income was 67.87. The report found that the MasterIndex of Women’s Advancement score for each of the 13 markets ranged from 46.92 to 89.85. New Zealand took the lead this year with a score of 89.85, pushing the Philippines (87.43 compared to 90.90 a year ago) to the second spot. This was closely followed by Taiwan (82.19 compared to 72.32 a year ago). "While women continue to close the gap in achieving parity with men in the areas of labor force participation and tertiary education, the self-perception of women when it comes to the subjective factors of the index - managerial positions and above median income - have dipped slightly" said Georgette Tan, vice president, Communications, Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa, MasterCard Worldwide. "As women continue to enter the labor force and seek tertiary education, it opens up new avenues for employment and their career. Despite positive economic growth and the tightening of labor market conditions, women still perceive themselves as not getting the same opportunities as men when it comes to managerial positions and median income. This, combined with the improving sentiments of men in a rosy economic environment, negatively affects the scores pertaining to the self-perception of women, resulting in a lower MasterIndex of Women’s Advancement score for certain markets." In the area of tertiary education, women in New Zealand (129.24), the Philippines (120.81), Thailand (118.89) and Australia (101.74) continued to take the lead in favor of females. Another interesting finding was the strengthening of Taiwanese women's perception in earning above median income, achieving a score of 113.16 from 73.53 a year ago. About MasterIndex of Women's Advancement The MasterIndex of Women’s Advancement is a composite index that measures the socioeconomic level of women in relation to men using four key indicators. The first two show the ratio of female to male participation in the labor force and tertiary education, and are based on source data from national statistics bureaus. The other two indicators, based on survey data, measure female and male respondent perceptions of whether they hold managerial positions and earn above median income. These subjective factors are a gauge of how positively or negatively respondents feel about their place in the workforce. The final figures show how close or how far women in each market come to being equal to men. A score under 100 indicates gender inequality in favor of males while a score above 100 indicates inequality in favor of females. A score of 100 indicates equality between the sexes. It is one of the MasterCard MasterIndex suite of research products in Asia/Pacific. The other key MasterIndex research products include the MasterIndex of Retail, MasterIndex of Travel and the flagship MasterIndex of Consumer Confidence. NOTE TO EDITORS: This news release is distributed with the below table that shows the MasterIndex of Women’s Advancement by market. The full report, which provides details on the scores for the four indicators by market, can be found at the website www.mastercard-masterindex.com Market MasterIndex? of Women’s Advancement 2005 MasterIndex? of Women’s Advancement 2006 MasterIndex? of Women’s Advancement 2007 Australia 67.57 89.07 76.18 China 75.382 83.55 75.59 Hong Kong 65.072 72.99 75.83 Indonesia 55.752 67.93 61.09 Japan 54.45 46.08 46.93 Korea 45.44 65.02 65.12 Malaysia 84.102 79.68 57.91 New Zealand 79.82[1] 83.912 89.85 Philippines 73.662 90.9 87.43 Singapore 61.27 84.02 75.92 Taiwan 72.652 72.322 82.19 Thailand 88.572 81.782 75.29 Vietnam 75.802 70.57 72.18 The Region 69.342 76.112 72.09 About MasterCard Worldwide MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes over 16 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial institution customers and merchants. Through its family of brands, including MasterCard?, Maestro? and Cirrus?, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to http://www.mastercard.com . Contacts: Eileen Wee, [email protected] , (66) 2607 4088 Elizabeth Wongwasin, [email protected] , (66) 2662 2266

• ข่าวMasterCard Worldwide
• ข่าวMasterIndex
• ข่าวMasterCard
• ข่าวo:eco
• ข่าวen