Women in Singapore have good reason to cheer as International Women's Day is celebrated today.

Consider this: Last year, women made up 24.3 per cent of employers here - the highest in the last decade. This is up from just 14.8 per cent 10 years ago, last year's report on the labour force in Singapore noted.

More women have also risen to senior positions and even become bosses, recent international surveys and a Sunday Times poll showed.

One Asian survey sponsored by American Express (Amex) found that in 10 companies polled in Singapore, an average of 17.3 per cent of senior positions were filled by women.

And Singapore women did better at clinching top posts compared to their counterparts in China, Japan and India.

Another survey, by Grant Thornton International, found that women in management positions in Singapore went up from 21 per cent in 2007 to 28 per cent this year. It surveyed some 7,200 businesses in 36 countries, including 150 here.

A Sunday Times poll of 11 companies from the transport, finance, retail and leisure industries found that between 18 and 50 per cent of their senior-level positions were held by women.

For instance, at home-grown shoe retailer Charles & Keith, women held five of the 14 senior management positions. Of Amex's 45 vice-presidents and higher positions in Singapore, 13 are filled by women.

Four firms reported at least a 10 per cent jump from five years ago.

Women here also feel more confident about their role in the workplace and their earning abilities.

MasterCard's Worldwide Index of Women's Advancement found that more women perceived themselves to be in a managerial position and to be earning an above-median income, compared to a year ago.

Member of Parliament Jessica Tan, Microsoft Singapore's managing director, said Singapore's comparative regional advantages - such as access to education, career opportunities and pace of development - have contributed to its having a higher proportion of women in leadership.

On this subject of more women snagging top jobs, Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) member Lelia Lim-Loges felt that Singapore's transition from a male-oriented manufacturing economy to a more service- based one was a factor.

Standard Chartered Bank's global head of group premium banking, Ms Foo Mee Har, 43, who has held leadership posts in China and Thailand and is now based here, said women here can rise to leadership positions: 'If they choose to, I don't think anything in the system will block them.'

Ms Foo, who has two teenage sons, believes that family support and domestic help mean that women here 'can have their cake and eat it'.

There is of course room for improvement, women leaders say. MP Halimah Yacob said there were still very few women at the very top.

A recent Watson Wyatt study found that 72 of the 100 largest companies here did not have a single female non-executive director.

Official statistics also show a gender gap when it comes to wage disparity.

Madam Halimah said that maintaining work-life balance is still a key challenge for women. 'It is not uncommon for men in top positions to have homemaker wives but women at the top continue to worry about whether they are neglecting the family. There is no easy solution and will persist unless there is greater sharing of responsibilities at home.'

This article was first published in The Sunday Times.