Source: Dell. Post-it notes show challenges facing women
in the workplace.
• Out of the top cities in the Asia Pacific region, Singapore ranks third behind Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, in Dell’s yearly Women Entrepreneur Cities (WE Cities) Index, which analyzes cities’ ability to support women entrepreneurs.
• Since 2017, all 50 cities included in the study have demonstrated year-over-year progress in the majority of the evaluated areas. Cities in the Asia Pacific region are keeping pace with global improvements, demonstrating the most significant growth in the Talent area.
• The Index is designed to be a tool for policymakers, offering insights and recommendations on how to enhance support for women in business.
During the 10th annual Dell Women Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) Summit in Singapore, Dell shared findings from its 2019 Women Entrepreneur Cities (WE Cities) Index. This index evaluates 50 cities worldwide based on their capacity to promote the growth of women-owned businesses.
Source: Dell. Infographic showing the Dell Global WE Cities rankings for 2019.
The rankings for cities in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions are:
- Sydney
- Melbourne
- Singapore
- Hong Kong
- Taipei, Taiwan
- Tokyo
- Dubai, UAE
- Beijing, mainland China
- Seoul, Korea
- Bangalore, India
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Shanghai, mainland China
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- Delhi, India
Dell emphasized that while all 50 cities have shown progress since 2017, some have advanced more significantly than others.
“Unlike other research, the 2019 Dell WE Cities report not only ranks 50 global cities based on their support for women entrepreneurs, but also highlights their progress since the 2017 benchmark,” stated Karen Campbell, Consulting Associate Director at IHS Markit.
“This year, emerging patterns are evident. Ranked cities have collectively improved the most in the Capital and Culture areas, underscoring the importance of evaluating not just the operational but also the enabling environment for women entrepreneurs. This data-driven method reveals persistent barriers faced by women entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses.”
Key findings include:
• Despite ranking first, the San Francisco Bay Area in the US achieved only 63.7 out of 100 possible points. Dell interprets this to mean that significant work remains to create a level playing field for women, emphasizing the need for such research and engagement with policymakers to support female founders effectively.
• Globally, key obstacles include insufficient funding, a high cost of living, inadequate representation of women in leadership positions, and a shortage of government policies that specifically aid women entrepreneurs.
• More than half of the indicators saw improvement in 30 out of 50 cities. The cities showing the most improvement are distributed across almost every region, indicating a global trend of positive change.
“Economic growth is fueled by women’s participation in the workforce. As a gender-neutral enabler, technology plays a crucial role in driving this progress and fostering a level playing field,” said Amit Midha, President of Asia Pacific & Japan, Global Digital Cities at Dell Technologies.
“While all cities in the Index have advanced, the key is consistent improvement across various factors influencing the success of women entrepreneurs. By providing insights into each city’s landscape, the WE Cities Index allows Dell Technologies to better understand and assist women entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses.”
“We are thrilled with the progress made and the opportunities ahead,” Midha commented during a media briefing. “This was unimaginable a decade ago. Technology represents an exciting new frontier, and we are just scratching the surface.”
Midha emphasized that in today’s landscape, company size is not as crucial as speed and innovation. He described it as “an opportune time to be a startup, especially in the technology sector.” He added, “We are tackling unprecedented challenges. The playing field for startups has never been more favorable.”
He highlighted the success story of e-commerce company Zilingo as a prime example of disruption. “It is female-founded, has a 50% female board representation, and we are witnessing numerous promising developments, which is remarkable,” he said. “There has never been a better time to be a female founder.”
In the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, cities are emerging as increasingly supportive environments for women entrepreneurs’ businesses, aligning with global trends. Studies suggest that addressing gender equality in APAC could contribute an additional US$4.5 trillion annually by 2025, substantially boosting growth. Furthermore, the absence of legacy infrastructure in many APAC markets positions the region to capitalize on disruptive technologies for accelerated progress.
Four APAC cities rank among the top 10 globally for the highest increase in funding allocated to businesses with at least 25% women executives. However, access to funding remains a regional hurdle, often due to policy gaps and a lack of awareness regarding the need for targeted funding for women-owned and led businesses.
Compared to other parts of the world, the research observes a slower pace of public discourse on women’s issues in APAC, resulting in a less impactful outcome of these discussions. However, some exceptions exist. India, for instance, has seen heightened attention on women’s rights in public discourse, fueled partly by the influence of social media. Similarly, prominent women in Japan have been vocal against discriminatory workplace practices.
Notable regional observations include:
• A greater number of cities in APAC experienced a drop in their ranking compared to those that maintained or improved their positions.
• Cities in APAC recorded the most significant progress in the Talent area. The region also exhibited substantial improvement in the Technology area, emerging as the most improved region in this category.
• The median WE Cities score for APAC improved by 0.7, compared to 3 in Europe and 0.9 in North America.
• APAC cities primarily lagged in the Culture and Markets areas.
• Globally, Tokyo, Japan, secured the second position in terms of improvement in the percentage of women enrolled in top universities and ranked first in the number of globally top-ranked universities. Tokyo also demonstrated the most significant improvement in the number of internationally recognized successful women business leaders.
• Melbourne ranked second globally in terms of improvement in the percentage of the population with a tertiary education and secured the top spot for improvement in both the percentage of women with a tertiary education and the percentage of the workforce employed in IT.
• APAC has the second-lowest representation of women on company boards globally.
Singapore
Singapore is positioned in the top half of the Index, ranking higher than most other cities in the region, surpassed only by Sydney and Melbourne. The country achieved second place in terms of improvement in projected economic growth over the next five years. While Singapore held the 8th position in 2017, it dropped to 21st in 2019. This decline doesn’t reflect a decline in the city’s performance, but rather the faster progress made by other cities included in the study.
Talent and Technology are Singapore’s strongest areas. In 2019, Singapore climbed from 17th to 11th place in Talent and from 10th to 6th place in Technology. This improvement in the Talent category is attributed to the country’s enhanced rankings for its top schools and business schools. It also expanded its pool of skilled professionals, which is crucial for business expansion.
Singapore is ranked 47th globally in the Markets category. This is partly due to the city’s high cost of living, a limited number of business accelerators, and a relatively low proportion of women on company boards. The 20 by 2020: Gender Diversity on Singapore Boards report, launched in 2018, highlighted that as of June 2017, female representation on boards listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) reached double digits for the first time ever. The report emphasized the urgency of addressing gender diversity on boards to maintain Singapore’s standing as a leading financial hub in Asia.
In the Capital pillar, Singapore ranked 25th globally. Although venture capital funding for female entrepreneurs has increased, it still lags behind many other cities. Singaporean women also had less access to crowdfunding, fewer female founders, and a slight decrease in the number of high-net-worth individuals.
Ranking 28th globally in Culture, Singapore’s score in this area remained relatively low due to factors such as a limited number of female role models and leaders. Nevertheless, Singapore is considerably more progressive than many of its regional counterparts in actively addressing gender parity issues.
“Singapore’s robust foundation in technological literacy and access to a talented workforce positions it well to achieve its ambition of becoming the world’s first Smart Nation,” added Eric Goh, VP and MD, Singapore, Dell Technologies.
“Realizing this vision necessitates a combined effort from both the public and private sectors to empower and equip individuals of all genders as catalysts for change. By bringing to light the intricate challenges encountered by women entrepreneurs in Singapore, we aim to stimulate meaningful discussions and foster growth as we embark on this nationwide digital transformation journey.”
During her speech at DWEN, Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Singapore, acknowledged the significant transformation in the lives of women over the past two centuries. She recalled the contributions of Samsui women in developing Singapore’s infrastructure during the 1960s and 70s and pointed out that women constitute nearly half of the migrant workforce across ASEAN. Fu emphasized that education for women has triggered “a positive feedback loop that benefits the economy.”
“Women are taking the lead in driving entire sectors of the economy. Our voices are being heard across all levels of Singaporean society,” she said.
Source: Dell. Fu speaks about challenges facing women.
She highlighted the Singaporean government’s recognition of women’s economic contributions and its dedication to expanding their choices and opportunities. “We don’t believe women should have to choose between their careers and families. We are committed to supporting them in pursuing both, and increasingly, we encourage men to have the same flexibility in their choices,” she stated.
Fu shared that government initiatives include work-life grants to promote flexible work arrangements and efforts to boost diversity at the board level. The government is also exploring solutions to alleviate the societal pressures that compel women to leave the workforce prematurely to care for children and aging family members.
“It is crucial to have women at the decision-making table, contributing equally to shaping the present and future. We must continually ask ourselves how we can leave a positive legacy, creating a better world for our daughters and granddaughters so that they, too, can become the pioneers of tomorrow,” she concluded.
Dell emphasized that the WE Cities Index results from 2017 to 2019 shed light on the accomplishments and hurdles faced by each city and offer valuable opportunities for cities to exchange best practices. With the support of local governments, these key learnings have the potential to bring about significant positive changes for women-owned businesses globally.
Drawing on the findings and comparisons between the 2017 and 2019 indices, Dell has formulated a set of WE Cities Policy Recommendations focusing on three primary areas:
• Enhancing Access to and Development of Financial and Human Capital.
Specific recommendations include:
Providing incentives for individuals and organizations to invest in women-owned enterprises through venture capital funds, corporate venture capital, private equity, and social capital.
Updating current government certification, grant, and loan programs to reflect evolving investment models, ensuring women-owned businesses can effectively compete.
Promoting and raising awareness of existing government programs to encourage broader participation and utilization.
Continuing existing efforts or initiating new small-business lending programs.
Exploring and establishing alternative sources of capital, such as crowdfunding and impact investing.
Encouraging both private enterprises and government agencies to prioritize supplier diversity by awarding a specific percentage of contracts to women-owned businesses.
Exploring the feasibility of shortening government payment cycles from 90 days to 30 days for small, women-owned suppliers.
Incentivizing the implementation of family-friendly policies, such as access to affordable childcare and eldercare, as well as paid family leave policies.
• Leveraging the Roles of Both the Private and Public Sectors to Improve Access to Local and Global Networks and Markets.
This could involve:
Supporting trade agreements that further liberalize trade practices and create new market opportunities for businesses of all sizes.
Promoting global and open standards, as well as establishing reliable mechanisms for cross-border data transfer and fostering business support services and networks, all while ensuring robust privacy and information security protections.
Supporting mentorship initiatives through financial backing and the encouragement of multiplier platforms. These could include accelerators, continuing education and training programs, and facilitated networking events.
Promoting the deliberate appointment of women to company boards, venture capital partnerships, and executive teams.
Utilizing media platforms, conferences, and leadership movements to highlight and celebrate the success stories of female founders and business owners.
• Empowering Women Entrepreneurs to Thrive in the Evolving Technological Landscape through Collaborative Efforts from Government and Business Leaders.
This could involve:
Simplifying the process for women-owned businesses to partner with government entities and apply for government resources.
Placing a strong emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, along with digital literacy, starting from early education programs.
Fostering collaboration between business leaders and educators to develop technology training programs that actively address and eliminate unconscious biases within STEM fields, government agencies, corporations, and institutions.
Working towards providing universal access to broadband internet services.
Raising awareness among women about the diverse range of hardware, software, and digital resources available to them, empowering them to scale their businesses effectively.
Dell partnered with IHS Markit to initiate research focused on assessing a city’s ability to attract and support high-potential women entrepreneurs. The WE Cities research project commenced during the 2016 DWEN Research Symposium. The success of the 2016 index pilot program led to its expansion in 2017 to encompass 50 cities, which were then re-evaluated and re-ranked in 2019.
Drawing on a decade of research on women entrepreneurs, Dell collaborated with IHS Markit to research and rank 50 cities based on five key characteristics: access to Capital, Technology, Talent, Culture, and Markets. These pillars were categorized into two primary groups: operating environment and enabling environment.
The assessment criteria consider the impact of local policies, programs, and characteristics, along with national laws and customs, on improving support systems for women entrepreneurs and contributing to overall economic growth.
The overall city ranking is determined based on 71 indicators, 45 of which specifically incorporate a gender-based component. Individual indicators were assigned weights based on four key factors: relevance, quality of underlying data, uniqueness within the index, and the presence of a gender component.
“Investing in women is an investment in the future. It empowers communities to flourish, economies to prosper, and paves the way for future generations to lead with purpose,” stated Karen Quintos, EVP and Chief Customer Officer at Dell Technologies.
“By providing city leaders and policymakers with actionable, data-driven research that illuminates the landscape for women entrepreneurs, we can work together to accelerate the success of women-owned businesses by dismantling financial, cultural, and political barriers.”
Dell actively supports and cultivates a community of female entrepreneurs through the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network by providing them with access to technology, networks, and capital. The annual _DWEN Summit _took place in Singapore from July 14-16, 2019.
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