TODAY, we celebrate International Women's Day 2021. Yet another year of putting the spotlight on gender equality.
Can we say that there is an improvement in the data showing that female representation in senior leadership roles has improved?
Or does International Women's Day remains a day that merely pays lip service to recognising women's rights (or worse, is used by retailers as a commercial gimmick)?
In some places, we have seen that the push for more diversity in the workplace came only after the Black Lives Matter movement made the issue impossible to ignore.
In the United States and Europe, companies have been making more active efforts to ensure gender diversity at the board level and in key leadership roles, with a few appointments making headlines.
A big step has come from the sporting arena, where major league baseball now has a female manager. This is a huge first in a male-dominated realm.
However, the rarity of such appointments begs the question of whether women's talent are developed and recognised on a level playing field.
Many women's organisations have launched mentoring programmes for women. But once they have been trained to be "board-ready" or assigned a "mentor", it all seems to slow down and sometimes even stop.
As I have started mentoring some young women overseas who are moving up in the workforce, I have heard of their experiences in the mentoring programmes that they have been on.
Their feedback has been interesting, with some common themes, including:
Mentors spend most of the time talking about their own experiences,
Mentors can be too judgemental, and;
Mentors do not open doors for you.
There were comments which include:
You need more than one mentor, and;
You need to use the time efficiently and focus on your goals.
After listening to these, what has surfaced are the reasons why mentoring isn't enough.
What women also need is an advocate. However, what it really boils down to is patronage.
Patronage has become a bad word, but the reality is that it happens at all levels in workplaces. Young women starting work will generally not realise this, but you need someone who knows what you are doing and what you are good at.
As the adage goes, "it isn't who you know, but who knows you".
Patronage has been sullied by how it is adopted in politics and the corporate world.
Ideally, it needs to be accompanied by competency. In many places, someone who knows your skill set will advocate for your promotion or recommend your skill set for a job.
To be successful, patronage or advocacy needs to be a two-way street. The person advocating for you is proud of your accomplishments and can vouch for you in the new job or task, while the person who receives the promotion delivers on the expectations.
Where advocacy or patronage fails is when someone is promoted or recommended by his or her sponsor and then doesn't deliver.
Lack of competency is one of the key areas why patronage doesn't work in many areas or circumstances.
When we look at many corporations, there is a gap in women achieving top roles.
This is often due to the lack of advocates or sponsors who are able to push hard for a woman to land the job.
Lack of sponsorship or advocacy for a person within or outside of an organisation is one of the reasons that women aren't getting top posts.
We know that it isn't because women aren't capable or lack the required skill sets.
The issue is society's biases regarding gender roles. Women will be judged if they are married and have kids (the question of whether they will invest adequate time and energy in the job is always cited as an issue).
The other disadvantage women face is that they usually don't attend the evening and weekend networking events.
Partly, this is because women bear the burden of domestic responsibilities, and she "isn't one of the guys".
We know that powerful men will sponsor or advocate for other men who are like them. And this is because the advocate will not rock the boat by doing so.
Many powerful men are uncomfortable with the idea of advocating for a woman. The only way for her to get the role is if there is someone higher up who will vouch for her competency and actively speak up for her.
Research points to the fact that women are generally "over-mentored and under-sponsored".
Many people view that advocating for someone can have dire consequences if the person doesn't deliver.
However, this can be countered by ensuring that you advocate for someone with the right skill set and ability to take on that role, and that you have trust in that person.
One corporate has listed out the difference between a mentor, who gives advice and coaching on issues; a connector, who just makes the introductions; and an advocate, who will go out of their way to recommend a promotion and tread into areas where the woman is unable to fight for herself.
Women have lost out on having an advocate.
In the early part of their careers, young women will begin to see that they will be passed on for exciting projects and critical support roles for the bosses.
It is at this time that women must start to consider how they want to move up the chain of command; and, apart from just thinking about joining a mentoring programme, to start identifying a person who could be their advocate or sponsor.
These relationships are built over years of trust. Both sides need to ensure that they deliver so that their reputation remains intact.
As the first female US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said, "I think women want to take care of themselves, and I think that having a voice in how that is done is very important".
If we really want to see a meaningful shift in the increase of women in key leadership roles, we need to start implementing an "advocate a woman programme" and roll out mentoring initiatives where women do not have to be afraid to acknowledge their talent and where other leaders can pave the way for them to shine.
The writer is a regional fund manager with more than 30 years of experience. She was named one of the 25 most influential women in the Asia-Pacific region for asset management as well as one of Forbes Asia's 50 Power Businesswomen 2014