Women Entrepreneurs in Asia: Eight Country Studies

Abstract

As the book titled The Future is Asian (Khanna, 2019) indicates, Asia is the fastestgrowing region in the world in terms of productivity, investment, technology, and innovation. However, gender inequality and underutilization of female talent are deeply rooted and widely spread in Asian countries (McKinsey Global Institute, 2018). The World Economic Forum’s (2018) gender gap report ranked China 103rd, India 108th, Indonesia 85th, Japan 110th, South Korea (Korea) 115th, Malaysia 101st, Thailand 73rd, and Vietnam 77th out of 149 countries in the combined evaluation of economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment in terms of women’s status compared with that of male counterparts. Asia’s gender gap index is alarming because almost all countries, except the Philippines (8th), occupy low rankings in women’s status, despite the region’s rapid economic development potential.