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International Women’s Day is not only a time to celebrate women’s achievements in our community, but also an opportunity to raise awareness on gender discrimination and accelerate gender parity. Today, we want to spotlight women driver-partners behind the wheels and explore ways in which we can continue to work hand in hand together to empower them — one ride at a time.

At Uber, we’ve set a goal of offering one of the most equitable platforms providing extra earning opportunities for all. Today, we see significant progress as we strive for a better gender balance of driver-partners in Hong Kong. 

With this year’s theme being #EachforEqual, we surveyed women driver-partners in Hong Kong to get their thoughts on what it means to them.

In 2019, the total number of new women driver-partners has risen by over 5 times in just a year! Among the key APAC and global markets, Hong Kong is currently ranked 2nd in APAC and 18th globally in terms of percentage of women driver-partners.

Uber offers a platform to allow users greater flexibility on the use of their time. Driver-partners can go online and offline flexibly depending on their availability. Especially for driver-partners with family commitments, they no longer have to choose between career and family. According to the survey, around 87% of women driver-partners surveyed received their families’ support on becoming an Uber driver-partner.

And for many, Uber provides an option for them to pursue dreams and passions while earning extra in their spare time. Being able to allocate time freely is highlighted by most women driver-partners in the survey — more than half agreed that being an Uber driver-partner provides them with the flexibility to balance personal lives and work. Some women driver-partners told us that while they were previously full-time homemakers, they enjoyed the ability to go online after dropping off their kids at school in the morning. 

Breaking stereotypes one ride at a time

Despite the increasing awareness on gender equality, gender stereotypes are still an issue in the workforce — whether in the office or on the road. This is especially glaring in an environment which has long been regarded as male-dominated. 

While the average rider cancellation rate of male driver-partners is 7% —  the rate is double (14%) for women driver-partners, indicating riders’ residual reluctance to be driven by women.

Passengers often step into their vehicles with curiosity, or doubt, and often ask questions such as “why, as a woman, did you become an Uber driver?” Around 60% of women driver-partners indicated in the survey that they have been judged because of their gender. 

However, at the end of the ride, women driver-partners are usually top scorers in every aspect. Our mutual rating system is here to bust every myth — data from the system indicates that performance of both genders are equally good, each receiving an average of around 4.8 out of 5 in the past five years.

After completing a ride, a vast majority (79%) of women driver-partners said that they received words of appreciation from riders, who often remarked that they are happy to be picked up by a woman driver-partner. Some riders also expressed that they get extra peace of mind having a woman driver-partner take them home late at night. 

Connecting women driver-partners with technologies 

Uber has developed multiple technology-driven safety features for our users. Every trip on Uber is tracked with GPS, and features such as, Follow My Ride and Trusted Contacts allow driver-partners to share real-time trip status with friends and family; our Spotlight feature helps driver-partners easily identify their matched riders; and Verify My Ride adds an extra layer of safety to ensure a rider is getting into the right car. 

On the road to inclusion 

At Uber, we are encouraged to see that more and more women are using the Uber platform. While we are still on our way to achieving our goal, our team will continue to proactively listen for feedback, and to make changes necessary to ensure a fairer and respectful environment for driver-partners.