Gender battle in corporate world and household is revitalised

to career women with ambition has been sounded again across the corporate globe, and this time the voice is loud and clear, coming from Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg through her recent book , which some have described as reigniting the stalled feminist revolution. She continues the conversation of the need for more women in executive roles across the business spectrum worldwide, a subject that will not go away until the game rules are equal for men and women, some say.

According to Anne-Marie Balfe, talent leader for financial services, Asia-Pacific, and Asia-Pacific diversity and inclusiveness leader at Ernst & Young, and who is also an AmCham Women of Influence Committee co-chair for 2013, this issue will continue to be discussed in Hong Kong until more women are promoted into leadership roles.

"Questions will continue to arise until there is a higher representation of women in leadership positions, and it becomes the norm rather than the exception. In Hong Kong, women now represent more than 50 per cent of the graduates from universities and, in many professions, they represent 50 per cent or more of the graduate intake. However, these figures reduce in more senior organisational ranks as women fail to be promoted into senior positions or opt out of the organisations."

Sandberg, in her book, sets out valuable skills for women to adopt in order to compete with their male counterparts and encourages women to join "lean in circles" for professional advice and networking.

In Hong Kong, there are several professional women's networking organisations, such as the Business and Professional Women's Association, the Women of Influence Committee and The Women's Foundation, among others, that are great platforms for women in business to receive encouragement, and to meet and share ideas and connections.

Anna-Marie Slot, partner at international law firm White & Case and also an AmCham Women of Influence Committee co-chair for 2013, says: "Women's organisations are helpful in providing people with tools that they can use as they see appropriate. It is useful to tell people that they can and should take control of their careers."

Emma Sherrard Matthew, global CEO of Quintessentially, and who is also on the board of The Women's Foundation, says: "Women's networks have the ability to be powerful and effective tools when supported by an organisational framework that supports gender diversity as a business imperative."

Sherrard Matthew points out that growing up among smart women also affected her outlook on life. "I am a great believer in women helping women. Having grown up in a very close relationship with my mother, two sisters and also having been to an all-girls boarding school, this has clearly had an influence and impact on my outlook on life. Over the years, I have found myself proactively reaching out and engaging smart, interesting and sassy women whom I admire and am inspired by. I enjoy working with and mentoring women, and sharing what I have learned over the years doing business."

Sandberg's message for "a truly equal world" includes one where "women ran half our countries and companies, and men ran half our homes". She acknowledges that barriers cannot be removed unless men and women change their mindset regarding gender roles, which are often conditioned from birth. "I think that it is hard to balance a successful career with fulfilling the duties of a full-time mother/housewife. Something will have to give," says Su Yin Anand, senior associate for Ince & Co.