Filipino panelist Professor Korazon Dioquino, a musicologist, said there was no discrimination against women composers and musicians in her country. The field of music education is dominated by women, including deans of music departments at the university level. In many indigenous populations in the islands, women play an important role in the music making of their tribes. She also remarked that some of the early researchers, ethnic musicians and dancers were women. From Japan, Professor Reiko Irino, Director of the Japanese Music Life Seminar, Yoshiro Irino Institute of Music, acknowledged that although there are numerous opportunities for women musicians, few have attained leadership positions.
Many professors of music are women, but very few are deans, presidents or directors.
In comparison to the rest of Asia, Japan has a substantial number of western-type symphony orchestras, but the concert masters of the major orchestras are men. Janet Danielson, Canadian composer and Associate Artistic Director of Vancouver New Music, reported that there are a large number of women composers in Canada, many of whom are of Asian descent. She then questioned the desirability of concerts devoted specifically to the music of women composers. She asked if the compositions would be judged on their own merits or as the work of women. Eve Duncan, composer and Chairman of the Melbourne Composers League, said that there are very few women composers in Australia, but as early as the 1920s and '30s, works by women composers were being performed by the major orchestras.