65% of companies in Taiwan polled have at least one woman in C-suite

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The British Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (BCCTaipei) recently hosted the Women in Business Forum: Climate Action Taiwan to present the findings of its cross-industry research on the status of women in climate action in Taiwan.

According to the report, there are three key suggestions for increasing female representation, including hardline governmental legislation for businesses, tax breaks to incentivize female promotion, and regulations to appoint at least one female director per organization. Additionally, the report recommends identifying more creative means to facilitate women’s entry into in-demand industries where they are underrepresented.

The research also examines the wide variety of measures adopted by private organizations to tackle climate change in keeping with local policies and legislation.

Survey results showed that 80% of organizations are taking steps to reduce their impact on the environment. Meanwhile, 53.3% implement initiatives to attract and retain female employees.

Responding organizations, ranging in size from one to almost 4,700 employees, reported that 81.9% have at least one female manager in C-suite positions, and 65.3% have at least one woman in a director’s position or above.

Although the representation of women in Taiwan is growing, BCCTaipei’s interviews reveal barriers to gender equality. These include family pressures to prioritize childcare, discrimination from employers, perceptions about women’s role at work, a culture of male dominance in certain industries, a lack of investment in female-oriented training schemes, and few women pursuing university degrees in ICT and STEM fields.

Another criticism is that employment policies tend to focus on pregnancy and childcare, rather than cultivating talent or promoting women to senior positions.

At the event, Director-General Tsai Lin-yi (蔡玲儀) of Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), said that Taiwan, ranked first in Asia for gender equality and is dedicated to empowering female leadership. "Women’s contribution to reaching our collective goal of ‘Net-Zero by 2050’ in line with COP26 is essential for Taiwan’s future," she said.

John Dennis, representative of the British Office in Taipei, said gender equality and green energy represent two core priorities for the British government’s "Global Britain" agenda, and he is delighted to see the progress made across a variety of industries in Taiwan. "The UK has a profound role to play in Taiwan’s transition to clean, carbon-free energy through the development of strategic sectors such as offshore wind, and I look forward to further cooperation in the coming years.”

Chair of BCCTaipei General Committee, Carl Blundon, talked about the organization's research, which offers valuable insights into women’s role in the climate debate. He said championing gender equality is not only vital for the success of private organizations, but for all aspects of wider society in Taiwan and abroad.

The event was supported by Aon, NIRAS (Gold Sponsors) and Taylor Hopkinson (Silver Sponsor).