WHILE women here believe that they are paid more than the median salary, they are not as upbeat about their place in management, according to the latest survey by MasterCard.

For a second straight year, the MasterCard MasterIndex of Women's Advancement (Miwa) showed a decline in the number of women in Singapore who believe that they hold managerial positions at work.

This finding surfaced despite women closing the gap on men in terms of labour force participation and tertiary education, as well as higher confidence in female earning power.

Compared with a high of 93 in 2006, only 78 women to every 100 men surveyed felt this year that they are in the management league. The lower a score below a benchmark of 100, the greater the perceived inequality in favour of men.

Amid the gloomier outlook on female managerial opportunities in Singapore, the sentiment in the region is even more bleak, with an overall score of 52.86 for the Asia-Pacific, down from 56.23 last year.

'This appears to indicate that women are feeling less confident about their current status,' said Ms Georgette Tan, Master- Card Worldwide's vice-president of communications for the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

The current backdrop of rising prices and economic gloom may be affecting their confidence, she added.

'Women are the ones who run everything, from grocery shopping to managing the household expenses,' she said.

'They are very sensitive to these things, and there might be a correlation with how they would feel about their opportunities at work.'

Singapore, however, bucks the regional trend on perceptions of earning power. The score for women in Singapore who believe that they are paid more than the median income rose from 57.69 to 66 in the latest survey, while the regional average fell from 67.87 to 58.74.

This optimism about female earning power is happening in tandem with the steady rise of female participation in tertiary education, from a score of 85.31 to 86.17 in the past four years.

'This shows that women are being recognised for the economic value they bring, instead of for the title on their card,' said Ms Tan. 'It is also definitely an indicator of women having greater financial independence and discretionary spending income.'

Singapore is placed fourth on the 2008 Miwa index, up from fifth place in the 2007 survey, despite its overall score dipping slightly from 75.65 to 74.96. The Philippines topped the survey at 86.82, followed by Hong Kong (77.37) and Malaysia (76.89).

The survey, conducted in the fourth quarter of last year and targeting middle- and upper-income groups in metropolitan areas, polled 5,411 people from 13 countries in the Asia-Pacific.

The index measures four key indicators: employment, tertiary education, managerial opportunity and earning power.

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