EMPOWERING WOMEN ININ THETHE MALAYSIANMALAYSIAN CORPORATECORPORATE SECTORSECTOR Published by:
EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EUMCCI) Address: Suite 10.01, Level 10, Menara Atlan, 161B Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: +603 2162 6298 Fax: +603 2162 6198 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.eumcci.com
Author:
Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MGCC) Website: www.malaysia.ahk.de
Publication Date: JULY 2019
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DISCLAIMER: The content of this ‘Report’ does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Theviews expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher as the author. However, efforts have been made to publish accurate, valid and reliable information. The information presented is not aimed at addressing any particular circumstances or any entity. However, EUMCCI shall not liable for damages, loss or expense including without limitation, direct, incidental, special or consequential damage or economic loss from or in connection with the data and/or findings published in this series. TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of figures and tables ...... 04 List of abbreviations ...... 04 Executive summary ...... 05 Introduction ...... 07 Rationale ...... 07 Scope ...... 08 Introduction to Malaysia ...... 09 Key facts: Malaysia ...... 10 Malaysia’s National Policies & Plans on Women ...... 11 National budget ...... 12 Ministry of Women, Family & Community Development (MWFCD) ...... 13 Regulatory agencies and related associations ...... 14 The Role of Women in Malaysia ...... 15 Status & family structure ...... 16 Political & legal status ...... 17 Society & economy ...... 17 Women in labour force ...... 19 Women in the boardroom ...... 20 Women owned establishments & entrepreneurship ...... 22 What are the barriers to career advancement for corporate women? ...... 24 Do Malaysian women even want to work? ...... 24 Women who want to work ...... 25 Self-fulfilment ...... 25 Financial security ...... 25 Women who don’t want to work / women who have to work ...... 26 Rising cost of living ...... 26 Waiting for marriage ...... 26 Barriers to career advancement for corporate women ...... 27 Internal factors ...... 27 External factors ...... 30 The uneven work environment ...... 33 Road map to gender equality ...... 36 Creating awareness & changing behaviours ...... 36 Incentives for women to continue working ...... 36 Mentorship and sponsorship programs ...... 38 Developing family friendly work designs ...... 38 The Future is Female / Conclusion...... 39 Appendix A Regulatory agencies ...... 40 Related associations ...... 41
03 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1: Map of Malaysia ...... 09 Figure 2: National Policies and Strategies Related to Women and TalentCorp Malaysia ...... 11 Figure 3: CEDAW ...... 13 Figure 4: Trends in Malaysia's HDI Component Indices 1990 – 2017 ...... 15 Figure 5: More Women in the Workforce Can Further Boost Malaysia's Growth Prospects ...... 18 Figure 6: Labour Force Participation Rate by Sex, 1995 – 2017 ...... 19 Figure 7: Labour Force of Malaysia, Fourth Quarter 2018 ...... 19 Figure 8: Figure 8 Women on Board, 2017 ...... 21 Figure 9: Distribution of Women-owned SMEs by Sector (%) ...... 22 Figure 10: Women Entrepreneurship Programmes in Malaysia ...... 23 Figure 11: Median monthly salaries and wages of employees by age group and gender in Malaysia, 2016 ...... 33
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
11MP 11th Malaysia Plan LFPR labour force participation rate ASEAN Association of Southeast LPPKN Family Development Board Asian Nations LPPKN National Population and APAW Action Plan for the Family Development Board Advancement for Women MP Member of Parliament BNM Bank Negara Malaysia NAWEM National Association Women FEM Federation of Women Entrepreneurs of Malaysia Entrepreneurs Associate NGO Non-Governmental Malaysia Organisation GDP Gross Domestic Product NIEW NAM Institute for the HAWA Department of Women Affairs Empowerment of Women HDI Human Development Index NPW National Policy for Women ISM Social Institute of Malaysia PLC public listed companies JKMM Social Welfare Department RM Ringgit Malaysia of Malaysia SME small-medium enterprises JPW Department for Women USD United States Dollar Development KPWKM / MWFCD Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development
04 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The aim of this study is to shed light on the key issues faced by women working in the Malaysian corporate sector, with the eventual goal to address the barriers to and deterrents of career advancement.
The proportion of women workers in Malaysia is on par with upper-middle income countries, but the present statistical evidence of 55.6% women labour force participation rate is significantly less than the rates of most developed nations and other countries in the Southeast Asian region. Even though Malaysian women are more highly educated than their male counterparts, previous research has also shown that women do not join the labour force due to family responsibilities.
Additionally, efforts to create 30% of female representation in corporate boardrooms is supported by the affirmative action taken by the Government in 2011. However, in 2018, a typical Malaysian firm only has over 13% board members who are female1.
The objective of the study was to ascertain in detail what factors, both direct and indirect, contribute to women’s low labour force participation and representation on corporate boards. This is achieved by looking into the role of women in Malaysia from various angles, such as a cultural and political standpoint, in order to explain the thought process behind their actions. Firstly, we look at whether or not women in Malaysia have the desire to work, followed by the variables that women working in the corporate sector take into account regarding their professional careers.
- The following are the key findings of our report: The findings of the study show that one of the major reasons why women are either dropping out of the workforce or not putting themselves forward for promotions are due to rigid organisational structures that do not allow for flexibility with their work schedules. The idea that somehow one is “tougher and stronger if you work harder and longer”, rings true in today’s working culture. Even in industries that don’t explicitly state the need for overtime, the pressure to arrive early, stay late, and be available 24/7, is synonymous with senior management positions.
More often than not, positions further up the career ladder come hand-in-hand with longer hours, frequent travel, and a lot of decision making. Women in these positions find themselves with too many roles to play – as an employee, as a mother, as a wife – leaving them exhausted at the end of the day. It leaves the woman feeling physically and mentally burned out. Even with a support system in places such as domestic help at home and a babysitter, the woman feels pulled in many different directions.
Even before a woman accepts a senior management role, she has to think of others before herself. When it comes to accepting promotions, females have many more variables to consider. She has to think of her family and the impact that the role will have on her life. If the job required relocating to another country, she would need to discuss it with her husband, who more than likely has a career of his own.
It’s exactly these variables that women are not promoted to higher management – because they don’t want to be. The problem isn’t that women are not given opportunities – they are not given choices for flexibility. Speaking to female respondents in middle management, the majority mentioned that they had been given promotion opportunities. However, they didn’t care too much about climbing the ladder. What they preferred was a stable income and flexible working hours in order to provide and be there for their families.
Additionally, the majority condemned gender discrimination at the workplace but were agreeable to it when it came down to the matter of personal safety during the job. If the nature of the job put the woman at potential risk at the workplace, most agreed that it was justified.
1 World Bank Group (2018). Women on Boards in Malaysia: https://lead-women.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/A-WOBMalaysia.pdf 05 Being more inclusive towards women is not a matter of choice, but a necessity to remain competitive in today’s business environment. Organisations need to understand the long-term benefits and commit strongly to it at all levels of management before real and lasting changes can happen.
Actions need to be taken to create awareness on gender discrimination and stereotypes in a typical workplace situation. Firstly, changing paradigms must come from all levels of management to make employees understand the long-term gain of gender equality so they would be more receptive to change.
Secondly, providing infrastructure and allowing more flexible career paths will help young women juggle both family and work life more effectively. Additional measures supporting young parents can be flextime or part-time work options, extended maternity/paternity leave, and childcare at work.
In order to ensure women are given an equal opportunity when applying for promotions, they need to be informed about career progression steps, available opportunities, and they should be able to seek help and guidance from a mentor. Having a mentor as a role model allows women to visualise themselves in the same position.
06 INTRODUCTION
This study aims to shed light on the key issues faced by women working in the Malaysian corporate sector with the ultimate goal to address the barriers and deterrents of career advancement for these women. As the Malaysian government continue their efforts to increase the female labour force participation rate in the country, it is imperative that we understand the issues that plague Malaysian women working in the corporate sector.
Inclusive economic institutions require not just markets, but inclusive markets that create a level playing field and economic opportunities for the majority of the people. In the mid-term review of the 11th Malaysian Plan (11MP), the new government has placed emphasis on fostering an inclusive economy and increasing women’s labour participation2. It is important that the corporate sector, especially companies in the top 100, implement these policies to set the standard for other companies in the future.
Malaysian women are highly important contributors to the country’s economic and social development. Improving women’s access to jobs and economic opportunities could significantly boost productivity of the nation. While the Malaysian government recognises women’s potential economic contribution, it does not address the issue of ‘disappearing women’ in more senior, managerial, and decision-making positions. Particularly in the corporate sector, the higher you look, the less women you see. This study aims to elaborate on these patterns and provide some explanations for them.
Rationale
Women make up almost half the nation’s population3 and account for over 62%4 of enrolment in local universities. Latest statistics show that Malaysian women have a labour force participation rate (LFPR) of 55%. However, they tend to exit the workforce in their late 20s to early 30s usually due to family commitments such as child-bearing or caring full-time for a family member5. Unlike other developed nations, these women do not re-enter the workforce.
Malaysia’s major hurdle is the outflow of female talent during their prime years. This is particularly concerning since women make up majority of public university graduates. As a consequence, Malaysia is losing a significant amount of talent by them leaving the workforce. This lack of human capital is a critical constraint in Malaysia’s ambition to become a high-income economy.
Statistics have shown that more women in the workforce could potentially increase Malaysia’s GDP by between RM6 billion and RM9 billion6. While there are a number of Malaysian employers already offering extended maternity leave, more companies should make greater efforts to retain and facilitate the return of talented women to the workforce.
Today, women have been recognised by the Malaysian government as a pivotal resource to drive economic growth and have taken steps to encourage them to come back to work. The implementation of a 90-day paid maternity leave in the private sector and the 12-month individual income tax exemption scheme7 are steps in the right direction.
Additionally, efforts to increase the number of women directors on corporate boardrooms is supported by the affirmative action taken by the Government in 2011 - that is to have 30% women representation on all corporate boards by 20168. However, in 2018, a typical Malaysian firm only has over 13% board members who are female9.
2 TalentCorp (2018). Mid-Term Review of the Eleventh Malaysia Plan 2016-2020: https://www.talentcorp.com.my/clients/TalentCorp_2016_7A6571AE-D9D0-4175-B35D-99EC514F2D24/contentms/img/publication/Mid-Term%20Review%20of%2011th%20Malaysia%20Plan.pdf 3 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2018). Selected Demographic Indicators of Malaysia: https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=397&bul_id=RmsrQVZMVEh1SDR3Yng0cFRXNkxPdz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09 4 New Straits Times (2018). Empowering more women in higher education: https://www.nst.com.my/education/2018/04/352834/empowering-more-women-higher-education. 5 Khazanah Research Institute (2018). The Malaysian Workforce, pp. 81: http://www.krinstitute.org/assets/contentMS/img/template/editor/20181129_Part%202_KRI_SOH_2018.pdf 6 McKinsey (2012). Women Matter: An Asian Perspective: http://wfa.ust.hk/women_matter_asia_files/Women_Matter_Asia.pdf 7 The Star Online (2017). Budget 2018: Full Speech: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/10/27/budget-2018-full-speech/ 8 The Edge (2017). Just Give Women a Fair Chance: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/just-give-women-fair-chance 9 World Bank Group (2018). Women on Boards in Malaysia: https://lead-women.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/A-WOBMalaysia.pdf
07 This study is motivated by the fact that the representation of women on boards is still not encouraging despite the announcement of the 30% gender policy in 2011. Global studies have shown that gender diverse boards perform better in every aspect of business10. Yet women at the top are still a rare occurrence and their career trajectories still look very different from the men’s.
So, why are a high percentage of Malaysian women not in the workforce? Previous research has shown that 58% (2.6 million) of women do not join the labour force due to family responsibilities in contrast to only 3.2% of men (69,800)11. From this we can observe that more Malaysian women are highly educated than Malaysian men, but a large proportion of them are dropping out of the workforce because they are still disproportionately shouldered with familial responsibilities.
However, this does not inform policy makers as to whether women have a desire to work, whether there are barriers that are inhibiting them from working or getting a higher promotion, as well as whether there are enhancers to encourage women to work, re-enter the workforce, or gun for higher managerial positions. The general assumption is that women tend to leave the labour force due to marriage and child birth, with no further insight on the thought processes behind these decisions. At a time when Malaysian women and the Government are tirelessly fighting for empowerment – what are the underlying reasons behind these women dropping out of the workforce now?
Scope
The study objectives are:
(a) To understand the importance and roles that women play in the Malaysian society, from a cultural, economic, and political perspective. (b) To examine the key issues faced by women in the corporate sector in Malaysia that have become barriers to their success. (c) To investigate which measures and strategies can be deployed to create a gender-balanced work environment that encourages retainment of female talent and provision of fair career advancement opportunities.
The research methodology for this study comprises both primary and secondary research. Secondary research information and statistics were obtained through desk review from published reports and statistics available locally and internationally. These included information and data released by governmental authorities, organisations and universities. Various news reports have been cited to provide a reflection on the attitudes and opinions of the local community.
Besides secondary research, primary research was also carried out. Participants from different cross-sections were interviewed. Their identities have been kept anonymous. Employees, employers and entrepreneurs of both genders working in the corporate sector, as well as representatives of relevant companies and associations from several industry sectors were engaged. This was necessary in order to provide relevant practical information and a realistic view on the subject matter, as well for the study to reach saturation of knowledge.
Appendix A gives an overview of the Regulatory Agencies and Related Associations.
10 Forbes (2018). More Evidence That Company Diversity Leads to Better Profits: https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2018/01/25/more-evidence-that-company-diversity-leads-to-better-profits/#2e974a181bc7 11Khazanah Research Institute (2018). The Malaysian 11 Workforce: http://www.krinstitute.org/assets/contentMS/img/template/editor/20181129_Part%202_KRI_SOH_2018.pdf 08 INTRODUCTION TO MALAYSIA
Malaysia is centrally located within the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and consists of the Malaysian Peninsular and the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo (Malaysian Borneo). The Federation of Malaysia comprises of three federal territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan) and 13 states (Sabah, Sarawak and the 11 states of Peninsular Malaysia). The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, whereas Putrajaya is the federal administrative center of Malaysia.
Figure 1: Map of Malaysia (Source: http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/malaysia_map.htm)
Malaysia is well-known to be a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual society with a population of roughly 32.4 million inhabitants (as of July 2018). Its citizens comprise of a melting pot of ethnicities namely, Malay, Chinese, Indian and indigenous people. Malays make up the majority of the population at 69.1%, followed by Chinese at 23%, Indians at 6.9% and other indigenous peoples at 1%12. The Malaysian constitution guarantees freedom of religion, although Islam is the largest and official religion13. Approximately 60.4% of the population practices Islam, 19.2% practices Buddhism, 9.1% practices Christianity, 6.3% practices Hinduism, and 2.6% practices Confucianism and other traditional Chinese religions. The official language of Malaysia is Bahasa Malaysia. However English, as well as Chinese dialects and Indian languages, are widely spoken due to the multicultural makeup.
The former British colony gained its independence in 1957 and is now a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy. Malaysia has a tropical climate and possesses a total land mass of approximately 330,803 square kilometres. Malaysia is a country naturally rich with diverse attractions, with approximately four-fifths of its land covered by tropical rainforest.
Malaysia’s strategic geographical location, with land on both mainland Asia and the Malay archipelago, and a total coastline of 4,675 kilometres, offers attractions in the form of well-preserved nature, white sandy beaches, diverse sea life and beautiful corals. Naturally, this has made the country one of the region’s key tourist destinations – all of which have been assets to its development.
12 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2018). Current Population Estimates 2017-2018: https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=155&bul_id=c1pqTnFjb29HSnNYNUpiTmNWZHArdz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09 13 Constitution of Malaysia (2009). The States, Religion and Law of the Federation: http://www.jac.gov.my/images/stories/akta/federalconstitution.pdf 09 An upper middle-income country, Malaysia has transformed itself since the 1970s from a raw materials producer into an emerging multi-sector economy, spurred on by high technology, knowledge-based, capital-intensive, and nature export-driven industries. Malaysia has garnered nearly half a century of rapid and inclusive economic growth, with real GDP expanding by 6.4% per annum on average since 1970. Malaysia is open and competitive, with strong links to global value chains, particularly in manufacturing electronic goods, machine equipment, medical goods and many more.
Following a larger-than-expected growth of 5.9% in 2017, the Malaysian economy saw moderate growth in 2018, closing at 4.7%14. This was attributed by the central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), to several external and domestic challenges including major policy and political shifts arising from the change of Government and global trade tensions, as well as supply disruptions in the mining and agriculture sectors. Despite a slower pace, the economy remained resilient. Anchored by the domestic demand whereby private consumption remains strong, it recorded the fastest rate since 2012. In 2018, Malaysia’s GDP ranked at 35 out of 193 countries15.
Malaysia is estimated to grow at a 4.7% average between 2019 and 2023. For the year 2019, BNM has forecasted sustained growth momentum of between 4.3% and 4.8%16 in the face of slower growth in both advanced and major emerging markets.
Key facts: Malaysia Population & Demographics Total Population (2018)17 32.4 million (2018) Female: 14.37 million (citizens); 1.29 million (non-citizens) Male: 16.72 million (citizens); 2.09 million (non-citizens) Population of Women18 14.37 million Population Growth Rate19 1.1% Ethnic Groupings20 Bumiputera 69.1% (Malays, Orang Asli); Chinese 23%; Indian 6.9%; Others 1% Life Expectancy21 77.6 years (female); 72.7 years (male)
Economy Country Income Group Upper middle-income GNI per capita (2018)22 RM43,086 (approx. USD 10,043) Rate of Economic Growth (GDP growth)23 5.7% (2017); 4.7% (end of 2018)
Poverty Headcount Ratio (2015)24 0.4% Unemployment Rate25 3.4%
Education Literacy Rate (age 15 to 64 - 2018)26 Female: 96.3%; Male: 97.3% Enrolment in Secondary Education (2018)27 Female: 88.5%; Male: 94.6% Enrolment in Tertiary Education (2018)28 Female: 48.3%; Male: 38.2%
14 The Star Online (2019). Economy grows at 4.7% in Q4 of 2018, above forecast: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2019/02/14/economy-grows-at-4pt7pct-in-q4-of-2018-above-forecast/ 15 International Monetary Fund (2019). World Economic Outlook Database 2018: https://bit.ly/2DHkNDE 16 The Star Online (2019). Bank Negara pledges support as GDP forecasts cut: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2019/03/27/bank-negara-pledges-support-as-gdp-forecasts-cut/ 17 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2018). Selected Demographic Indicators of Malaysia: https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=397&bul_id=RmsrQVZMVEh1SDR3Yng0cFRXNkxPdz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09 18 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2018). Selected Demographic Indicators of Malaysia: https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=397&bul_id=RmsrQVZMVEh1SDR3Yng0cFRXNkxPdz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09 19 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2018). Current Population Estimates 2017-2018: https://dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=155&bul_id=c1pqTnFjb29HSnNYNUpiTmNWZHArdz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09 20 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2016). Population Projections 2010-2040: https://dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=118&bul_id=Y3kwU2tSNVFDOWp1YmtZYnhUeVBEdz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09 21 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2018). Abridged Life Tables: https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/pdfPrev&id=aDV6TWxoU0NlNVBYN1hXM1Y0L2Jadz09 22 The Star Online (2019). Economy rebased to 2015: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2019/05/06/economy-rebased-to-2015-gni-per-capita-to-reach-rm47720-by-2020/ 23 CEIC (2018). Malaysia: http://www.mida.gov.my/home/key-economic-indicators/posts/ 24 World Bank (2019). Poverty headcount ratio: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC?locations=BO-MY 25 MIDA (2019). Key Economic Indicators: http://www.mida.gov.my/home/key-economic-indicators/posts/ 26 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2018). Statistics on Women Empowerment in Selected Domains 2018: https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=444&bul_id=SGMzVDh0cVUwK0t6SGN6UzhwN1dmdz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09 27 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2018). Statistics on Women Empowerment in Selected Domains 2018: https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=444&bul_id=SGMzVDh0cVUwK0t6SGN6UzhwN1dmdz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09 28 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2018). Statistics on Women Empowerment in Selected Domains 2018: 10 https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=444&bul_id=SGMzVDh0cVUwK0t6SGN6UzhwN1dmdz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09 MALAYSIA’S NATIONAL POLICIES & PLANS ON WOMEN
Efforts and plans to improve the status of women are integrated and incorporated into various long-term sectorial planning and the National Five-Year Development Plan. The development of women was first highlighted in the Third Malaysia Plan (1976-1980), which encouraged active participation of women in development and their contribution to the economy.
A full chapter was devoted to policies focusing on women in the Sixth Malaysia Plan (1991-1995). This chapter was significant as it outlined the issues and concerns regarding the full integration of women in development and set the precedent for later five-year development plans to give greater prominence to gender issues.
Figure 2: National Policies and Strategies Related to Women (Source: MGCC own; adapted from United Nations: http://www.un.org.my/upload/mdg3.pdf and TalentCorp Malaysia: https://www.talentcorp.com.my/clients/TalentCorp_2016_7A6571AE-D9D0-4175-B35D -99EC514F2D24/contentms/img/publication/RMKe-11%20Book.pdf)
National Policy for Women (NPW)
In 1989, the Government of Malaysia formulated the National Policy on Women as a guide for women’s participation in the country’s develtopment process. The Policy aimed to enhance women’s quality of life by overcoming challenges through poverty eradication and education. Its contents were incorporated into the Sixth Malaysia Plan and have since formed the basis for many of the subsequent policies relating to women in development29.
29 Asian Development Bank (1998). Women in Malaysia: https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/32552/women-malaysia.pdf 11 The primary objectives of the NPW are:
• to ensure equitable sharing in the acquisition of resources and information, opportunities and benefits of development for men and women. The objectives of equality and justice must be made the essence of development policies which must be people-oriented so that women, who constitute half of the nation’s population, can contribute and realise their potential to the optimum; and • to integrate women in all sectors of national development in accordance with their capabilities and needs in order to enhance the quality of life, eradicate poverty, ignorance and illiteracy, and ensure a peaceful, harmonious, and prosperous nation.
Action Plan for the Advancement of Women (APAW)
Following the NPW, the Action Plan for the Advancement of Women (APAW) was formulated in 1992 to operationalise the NPW30. Under the APAW, various strategies and programmes were identified for implementation by government agencies, the private sector, and civil society. The Plan outlined and proposed the following:
• strengthen the national machinery for the advancement of women • raise public awareness and sensitise the government bureaucracy towards issues related to women • re-orientate the institutional process for planning, implementation, and monitoring of government policies and programmes to accommodate women’s concerns • activate NGOs to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of socio-economic programmes • redress problems of discrimination and promote affirmative action for the advancement of women in various fields.
National Budget
The Malaysian federal budgets are presented annually to identify proposed government revenues and spending, forecast economic conditions for the upcoming year, and its fiscal policy for the coming years. The federal budget includes the government's estimates of revenue and spending and may outline new policy initiatives.
Gender budgeting in Malaysia had its beginnings in 2000 when the then Prime Minister spoke about gender budget work in his address to the Regional Steering Committee of Women in Asia Pacific31. Since then, the Government of Malaysia has stressed on the importance of incorporating gender perspectives into its development planning and allocation of resources. For example, the National Policy on Women 1989 noted the need for information on target clientele to be ‘gender categorised to enable appropriate assessment’.
Budget 2018 The year 2018 was a breakthrough moment for Malaysia when former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak declared 2018 as “Women Empowerment Year”32. The government listed four prominent measures to elevate the role of women in the country with its RM280.25 billion budget allocation:
• Government-linked companies, government-linked investment companies and statutory bodies to allocate 30% of positions in their board of directors to women by the end of 2018. • RM20 million allocations for training and entrepreneurship programmes tailored for women through the Entrepreneur Programme under the MyWin Academy.
30 United Nations Malaysia (2004). MDG 3: http://www.un.org.my/upload/mdg3.pdf 31 KPWKM (2005). Manual on Gender Budgeting: https://www.kpwkm.gov.my/kpwkm/uploads/files/Muat%20Turun/Gender_Manual_Eng_May06(1).pdf 32 The Sun Daily (2018). Role of Women to Increase says Najib: https://www.thesundaily.my/archive/role-women-increase-says-najib-updated-XUARCH519484 12 • Individual income tax exemption on income earned within 12 months for women’s re-entry into the workforce after a two-year hiatus, in line with the government agency TalentCorp’s Career Comeback Programme. • Private sector to increase their mandatory maternity leave from 60 to 90 days; similar to what has been earlier implemented by the government sector.
Maternity Leave While the Malaysian Labour Department strongly encourages employers to implement 90 days maternity leave in accordance to the announcement, employers are still within the law to maintain 60 days as the Employment Act 1955 has not yet been amended. As the proposed amendments are currently only at the public consultation stage, it is unclear when they will be tabled in parliament. According to the Labour Department, the increment will be implemented in two phases33:
Phase 1: Encourage employers to provide 90 days of maternity leave to female workers in the private sector. Phase 2: Make amendments to the provisions of Section 37 of the Employment Act 1955, Section 83 of the Labour Ordinance (Sabah Chapter 67) and Section 84 of the Labour Ordinance (Sarawak chapter 76) to require mandatory 90 days of maternity leave.
Budget 2019 Pakatan Harapan’s first inaugural Budget was delivered by Finance Minister YB Lim Guan Eng at the Dewan Rakyat on 2 November 2018. The theme of the Budget speech was “A Resurgent Malaysia, A Dynamic Economy, A Prosperous Society”34. During the speech, he highlighted the new coalition’s goals for women:
• More accessible childcare at work; allocating RM10 million to build 50 childcare centres in government offices and buildings to help working mothers. At the same time, the government will also encourage and incentivise private bodies to do the same. • More women in leadership roles; a continuation of the 30% quota for women on boards from the previous year. • For housewives under the e-Kasih programme, the Government has introduced the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) i-SURI contribution scheme where husbands are incentivised to contribute to their wives’ retirement savings. e-Kasih beneficiaries whose husbands contribute at least RM5 monthly into their wives’ retirement savings will receive an additional RM40 contribution from the Government per month. An allocation of RM45 million was provided for this scheme.
Ministry of Women, Family & Community Development (MWFCD)
Initially named the Ministry of Women Affairs, it was established on 17 January 2001. The Ministry was subsequently renamed as the Ministry of Women and Family Development (MWFD), and its roles and functions were enlarged and expanded in February 2001.
The establishment of the Ministry was pursuant to the Fourth World Conference on Women, which was held in Beijing in 1995. The Ministry was implemented in accordance to the document entitled "Platform for Action for The Development of Women towards the Year 2000", i.e.: "Establishment of a full-fledged ministry that demonstrates the government's commitment to raise the status of women in this country.”
The Department of Women Affairs (HAWA) and the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) were accordingly placed under the jurisdiction of this Ministry. After the 11th General Election in March 2004, the roles and responsibilities of MWFD were further broadened.
33 HR Sifu (2018). 90 Days Maternity Leave for Private Sector: https://www.hrsifu.com/90-days-maternity-leave-private-sector-malaysia/ 34 EY (2019). Budget 2019 Malaysia Highlights: https://www.ey.com/my/en/services/tax/ey-malaysia-budget-2019 13 In March 2004, the Ministry of National Unity and Social Development was dissolved and some of their functions were subsequently subsumed into MWFD. In line with the restructuring, the Ministry was further re-named as the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (MWFCD). MWFCD is currently led by YAB Dato' Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister with the portfolio as the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development on 21 May 2018.
The Ministry’s responsibility is to promote and raise public perception on the importance of the roles of women and family institution in contributing towards the developmental agenda of the nation, and the gender equality resolutions in international agreements, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Ministry is also responsible for the creation and promotion of community and social awareness programmes as well as the progression of the nation's social development objectives aspects, especially those relating to social welfare.
CEDAW
Figure 3: CEDAW (Source: https://www.kpwkm.gov.my/kpwkm/uploads/files/Muat%20Turun/Gender_Manual_Eng_May06(1).pdf )
Regulatory Agencies and Related Associations
With the latest reorganisation, the MWFCD now oversees five agencies under its direct jurisdiction:
1. Social Welfare Department of Malaysia (JKMM) 2. National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) 3. Department for Women Development (JPW) 4. Social Institute of Malaysia (ISM) 5. NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women (NIEW)
For detailed information on the different agencies and related associations, please refer to Appendix A, Regulatory Agencies and Related Associations.
14 THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN MALAYSIA
The United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living. According to the latest report35, Malaysia’s HDI value for 2017 is 0.802. A score of 0.800 and above is categorised by the HDI as “very high human development” and the lowest 0.55 and below, as “low human development”.
The value of 0.802 puts Malaysia in the category of very high human development, positioning it at 57 out of 189 countries and territories. However, in comparison to other countries within the same category, Malaysia’s HDI of 0.802 is much below the average of 0.894 for countries in the very high human development group (i.e.: Singapore, Brunei, Norway, Germany) but above the average of 0.733 for countries in the East Asia and Pacific region.
In terms of gender equality based on the HDI, Malaysia’s Gender Development Index (GDI) score is 0.976, making it a country with high equality in HDI achievements between women and men. However, in relation to other countries in the region, Malaysia’s GDI is considered low in contrast to Philippines (1.000) and Thailand (0.996) or the very high HDI average of 0.983.
In conclusion, while Malaysia scores very high within the HDI and GDI and is classified under very high human development with almost equal gender parity, its scores have shown that the nation is brushing the minimum with more room for improvement when it comes to gender equality.
Trends in Malaysia's HDI Component Indices 1990 – 2017
Figure 4: Trends in Malaysia's HDI Component Indices 1990 – 2017 (Source: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/MYS.pdf )
According to the World Economic Forum’s latest report, Malaysia ranked extremely low (101 out of 149 countries) in the Global Gender Gap Index based on statistical data36. While Malaysia is ranked quite well in gender parity in health, mortality and educational attainment, it's ranking in female participation in political empowerment is relatively poor. Malaysia (101) has fully closed its gender gaps in primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment. However, the country continues to record slow (although steady) progress on closing its political empowerment gender gap and women’s share of estimated earned income.
35 UNDP (2018). Malaysia: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/MYS.pdf 36 World Economic Forum (2018). The Global Gender Gap Report: https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-gender-gap-report-2018, pp. 173-174. 15 Status & Family Structure
Malaysia’s economy is on its way to achieving high-income status, having made great strides in its economic development in recent decades. Despite an increase in income and better quality of life, there are still numerous hurdles to overcome before women empowerment can be fully achieved in Malaysia.
From a cultural standpoint, Malaysia presents an interesting case study on attitudes towards women because it is a society undergoing rapid changes from its strong traditional cultural norms to modern values about women. Malaysia is well-known as a diverse and multi-ethnic country.While Islam is the predominant religion, the country also notably observes other religions such as Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism. This diversity makes it difficult to generalise the situation of women in Malaysia. Thus the level of women’s empowerment may be dependent on their religious and ethnic background.
For example, while non-Muslim women have equal parenting rights across the country, Muslim women only enjoy those rights in four out of thirteen states. In the deeply religious state of Kelantan, child marriage is still permitted, even deemed “a necessity in accordance with Islamic laws”37 by state agencies. Efforts to raise the age of marriage for girls to 18 were first defeated in Parliament in 2017. However, the following year saw Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad issue an order to all state governments to raise the minimum legal age to 18 years for both Muslims and non-Muslims, after reignited public interest on the matter. Selangor has so far been the only state to officially raise the legal marrying age from 16 to 18 through amendments to the law38. From a cultural standpoint, the other ethnicities such as the Malaysian Chinese and Indians also continue to adhere to traditional norms. Many are involved in business, with most inheriting from the older generation to be passed down to the younger generation. As per Chinese and Indian custom, sons are preferred over daughters regardless of their skill or competence. This is because traditionally the male successor carries the family name in the business.
As a result, women from all ethnicities in Malaysia, especially those from the older generation, are conventionally family-oriented and are devoted to the welfare of her family members. It can be said that many of Malaysian women are more focused on family matters rather than self-fulfilment, especially when it comes to having to make a choice between career and family. For many, family is always given the priority.
International market research firm YouGov conducted a survey in 2015 whereby 2,768 Malaysians were polled on their attitudes towards gender equality. The company’s survey found that two-thirds of surveyed Malaysians agree that “a wife’s primary role is to care for her husband”39. However, the same survey also found that 68% surveyed Malaysians believed that women and men are equal, an overwhelming 92% favoured the idea of women making careers of their own, and only 27% said a woman’s place is in the home.
The results of the survey show that while gender equality is assumed and actively taught in Malaysia today, it is evident from these contrasting beliefs that there are still underlying patriarchal values in the greater society. In a way, many Malaysian women today are caught in a dilemma, balancing between the modern challenges of life and their traditions. Traditional roles of women are still emphasised upon, a norm in Asian countries. Despite being employed and part of the workforce, many are still expected to be responsible for the family and to maintain the traditional perception of a woman.
37 The Star Online (2018). Kelantan: Underage marriage is necessary: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/11/30/kelantan-underage-marriage-is-necessary/. 38 The Malay Mail (2018). Selangor’s minimum age of marriage now 18: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2018/09/05/selangors-minimum-age-of-marriage-now-18/1669656 39 The Malay Mail (2015). Two-thirds Malaysians say wife’s first role is looking after husband, survey shows: https://www.malaymail.com/s/1004271/two-thirds-malaysians-say-wifes-first-role-is-looking-after-husband-survey. 16 Political & Legal Status
The Inter-Parliamentary Union recently ranked Malaysia 141 out of 188 nations in terms of women’s representation in national legislatures40. As mentioned previously, Malaysia also scored similarly poor result on political empowerment in the Gender Gap Index 2018.
Since gaining independence in 1957, Malaysian women have had the right to vote in elections and to hold public office. During the recent 14th General Election (GE14) held in May 2018, women made up 50.5% of the electorate. According to the statistics gazetted by the Election Commission (EC), 11 states and two federal territories had more female voters than male voters41. The states with more female voters were Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Sarawak, and the two federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Overall, there were a total of 7,557,187 (50.5%) female voters compared to 7,383,437 (49.42%) male voters.
Despite the strong numbers, the majority of Malaysian women seem to remain in more traditional positions in political parties, instead of being political leaders themselves. They continue the trend of only engaging themselves primarily in raising financial support, turning out during elections, daily campaigning tasks, and facilitating voter participation during the election process for their political parties. Even during GE14, male candidates far outnumbered females – 612 men and 75 women vying for federal seats, and 1,470 men and 176 women contending for state seats. In total, women only accounted for 12% of the federal and state seats’ candidates42.
During the landmark election in May, one of the manifestos of the Pakatan Harapan coalition was to have at least 30% female representation in Cabinet. Since the euphoric scenes of May 9, only 5 out of 28 Cabinet ministers sworn in have been women – a turning point for Malaysia who has never had more than three women appointed as full ministers under one administration. Four (4) women deputy ministers out of 27 deputy ministers were appointed, bringing the current overall female representation to 18.5%, falling short of the 30% promised in the manifesto.
While the coalition’s 30% female representation promise failed to materialise, Malaysia’s key milestone to date in terms of gender equality has been the appointment of the first female Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah.
However, women’s representation in Parliament and Cabinet still remains low. Today only 32 of 222 members (14.41%) in the House of Representatives and 13 women out of 67 (19.4%) in the Senate are female.
Society & Economy
Since gaining independence in 1957, Malaysia has seen its economic development and growth create new employment opportunities for the benefit of both men and women. Structural changes in the economy moved demand for labour to the services sector, the fastest growing sector in Malaysia accounting for 60% of the country’s GDP43. As employment expanded, the demand for unskilled and skilled female labour increased in tandem with economic growth. Increased access to education has also enabled women to be gainfully employed in all economic sectors. More jobs, higher income and a better standard of living have substantially reduced gender inequality and raised the social and economic status of Malaysian women
40 Inter-Parliamentary Union (2019). Women in Politics 2019: https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/infographics/2019-03/women-in-politics-2019 41 The Sun Daily (2018). More women voters than men for GE14: https://www.thesundaily.my/archive/more-women-voters-men-ge14-GUARCH539406 42 Inter-Parliamentary Union (2019). Women in Politics 2019: https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/infographics/2019-03/women-in-politics-2019 43 The Star Online (2018). Demand for labour dropping: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/11/25/demand-for-labour-dropping/ 17 The 11MP (2016 – 2020), Malaysia’s current five-year outline of development policies and strategies, plots a trajectory towards advanced economy status and greater inclusion44. The plan puts significant emphasis on improving labour market outcomes and targets increases in labour’s share of income, skilled labour employment, as well as female labour force participation.
Between 2010 and 2016, female employment grew at an annual rate of about 4.5%, more than tripling women’s contribution to real GDP growth, relative to 2001 and 200845. In 2016, Malaysian women contributed around 32% of the nation’s GDP46. According to the IMF, if the female labour force participation rate had not changed since 2012, real GDP would have been about 1% lower in 2016 compared with what it actually was that year.
Figure 5: More Women in the Workforce Can Further Boost Malaysia's Growth Prospects (Source: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2018/03/07/NA030718- Malaysias-Economy-Getting-Closer-to-High-Income-Status)
About 35% of all workers in Malaysia are women47. This makes Malaysia on par with upper-middle income countries and higher than lower-middle income countries, but lower than the regional average (i.e., Cambodia, Thailand, and Lao PDR) where women comprise almost half of all workers. Overall, the number of women in Malaysia’s private sector employment is on par with the rates experienced by other upper-middle-income economies. However, in comparison to other countries in the region, Malaysia has the potential for a higher presence.
But what about the quality of their jobs? Again in comparison with other countries in the region, Malaysia sits squarely in the middle in terms of female representation in professional and technical jobs48.
44 TalentCorp Malaysia (2016). Eleventh Malaysia Plan: https://www.talentcorp.com.my/clients/TalentCorp_2016_7A6571AE-D9D0-4175-B35D-99EC514F2D24/contentms/img/publication/RMKe-11%20Book.pdf 45 IMF (2018). Malaysia’s Economy: Getting Closer to High-Income Status: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2018/03/07/NA030718-Malaysias-Economy-Getting-Closer-to-High-Income-Status 46 McKinsey Global Institute (2018). The Power of Parity: Advancing Women’s Equality in Asia Pacific: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Gender%20Equality/The%20power%20of%20parity%20Advancing%20womens%20equality%20in%20Asia%20Pacific /MGI-The-power-of-parity-Advancing-womens-equality-in-Asia-pacific-Executive-summary.ashx 47 Amin, M. and Zarka, A. (2017). Women Workers in Malaysia’s Private Sector: https://www.enterprisesurveys.org/~/media/GIAWB/EnterpriseSurveys/Documents/EnterpriseNotes/Women-Workers-in-Malaysia%E2%80%99s-Private-Sector.pdf 48 The Star Online (2018). Demand for labour dropping: McKinsey Global Institute (2018). The Power of Parity: Advancing Women’s Equality in Asia Pacific, pp.10: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Gender%20Equality/The%20power%20of%20parity%20Advancing%20womens%20equality%20in%20Asia%20Pacific /MGI-The-power-of-parity-Advancing-womens-equality-in-Asia-pacific-Executive-summary.ashx 18 Malaysian women have been found mostly in professional fields in the country, comprising 67.9% of dentists, 52.6% of lawyers, 52.6% of accountants, 51.9% of medical doctors and 47.3% of veterinary surgeons49.
Women in Labour Force
Labour force participation rate (LFPR) examines the proportion of the working-age population (i.e. between 15 to 64 years old) who are currently employed or actively looking for employment. Men and women make up roughly equal proportion of the working-age population, but LFPR of both sexes differ significantly.
Figure 6: Labour Force Participation Rate by Sex, 1995 – 2017 (Source: http://www.krinstitute.org/assets/contentMS/img/template/editor/Part2_KRI_SOH_2018.pdf )
Malaysia’s female LFPR has always been historically lower than their male compatriots. Between 1982 and 2012, the female LFPR increased modestly from 40% to 49%. In 2013, the female LFPR surpassed the 50% mark for the first time. As shown in Figure 6, the LFPR rate for women is on an upward trend, while there is a corresponding long-term downward trend in participation rates for men.
The LFPR for women as of Q4 in 2018 stands at 55.6% and 80.7% for men50. Out of this population, the total working-age population of Malaysia at the end of the fourth quarter of 2018 was 15.45 million, out of which 6.03 million were women and 9.42 million were men. This implies that on average, almost half of working-age women in Malaysia are not in the workforce, compared to less than 20% for men.
Figure 7: Labour Force of Malaysia, Fourth Quarter 2018 (Source: https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=149&bul_id= OXFBWHJVYXhRNkhsL2ptRlg4QjNrZz09&menu_id=U3VPMldoYUxzVzFaYmNkWXZteGduZz09 )
49 The Star Online (2019). Women outnumber men in fields such as medicine, dentistry, law and accountancy: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/03/08/more-female-professionals-in-msia-women-outnumber-men-in-fields-such-as-medicine-dentistry-law-and-a/ 50 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2019). Principal Statistics of Labour Force, Malaysia, Fourth Quarter (Q4) 2018: https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=149&bul_id=OXFBWHJVYXhRNkhsL2ptRlg4QjNrZz09&menu_id=U3VPMldoYUxzVzFaYmNkWXZteGduZz09 19 Although the upward trend of Malaysian female LFPR is a positive indicator of Malaysian women’s participation in the workforce and contribution to GDP, the numbers are still a far cry from those of the Malaysian men. The participation level of Malaysian women is also still relatively low in comparison to other upper-middle income countries similar to Malaysia in the region (i.e., China, Thailand).
So, where are the women in society? A joint study by UNDP Malaysia and the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development on Malaysian women’s participation in the workforce made several key findings51:
• Malaysian women over the age of 26 are more sensitive to life-cycle transitions as compared to other countries in the world; • married women in both urban and rural areas have the lowest participation rate; • Malaysian women retire earlier than their male counterparts.
An analysis of women’s LFPR in Malaysia shows a single-peak profile between the ages of 25 and 29 years, where it declines and does not rise again52. From this, we can deduce that Malaysian women are exiting the workforce during common child-bearing years.
What is the reason that Malaysian women are not re-entering the workforce? For an explanation of this phenomenon, the coming chapters aims to investigate and pinpoint possible reasons why.
Women in the Boardroom
In recent years, board gender diversity has received substantial attention within the issues of corporate governance. Recent widespread news reports have made it common knowledge that there is a stark female underrepresentation on boards. Female directors are perceived to be more active in monitoring activities, cautious in decision making, as well as less aggressive and risk averse when compared to male directors, who are more likely to be overconfident in their corporate decisions making53.
In the EU, Norway was the first country to mandate their listed firms to have at least 40% of women in the boardrooms, and managed to achieve full compliance in 200954. Other countries have followed suit, either by adopting a mandatory quota (Germany, France, Belgium, Iceland and Italy) or set a voluntary target ratio that ranges from 25% to 40% (Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK).
In 2004, the Malaysian government first announced a target for the public sector to achieve at least 30% representation of women in decision-making positions by 2016. In 2011, the government ruled to extend this policy to include the private sector as well, with the target set for year 2020.
In the third quarter of 2018, women account for 23.2% on the boards of directors in the top 100 public-listed companies (PLC) on Bursa Malaysia55. Recent statistics show that this follows a steady year-by-year increase – from 11.7% in 2014, 13.4% in 2015, 14.6% in 2016, and 17.9% in 2017.
The results across all listed PLCs in Malaysia have been increasing, on average, 0.65% year on year, where it currently stands at 15.4% in the third quarter of 201856.
51 UNDP Malaysia and the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (2014). Women In Malaysian Labour Force Study with UNDP: https://www.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Women%20In%20Malaysian%20Labour%20Force%20Study%20with%20UNDP-2013.pdf 52 UNDP Malaysia and the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (2014). Women In Malaysian Labour Force Study with UNDP: https://www.undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Women%20In%20Malaysian%20Labour%20Force%20Study%20with%20UNDP-2013.pdf, pp. 26. 53 Huang, J., and Kisgen, D. J. (2013). Gender and corporate finance: Are male executives overconfident relative to female executives? Journal of Financial Economics: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2012.12.005, pp. 822–839. 54 Reuters (2013). Norway's gender quota law has made boards more professional: state fund boss: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nordic-investment-fund/norways-gender-quota-law-has-made-boards-more-professional-state-fund-boss-idUSBRE98T0LM20130930 55 Daily Express (2018). Malaysia leads ASEAN in women PLC participation: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=129638 56 The Malaysian Reserve (2018). Malaysia sees highest number of women in Asean boardrooms: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2018/12/19/malaysia-sees-highest-number-of-women-in-asean-boardrooms/ 20 Figure 8: Figure 8 Women on Board, 2017 (Source: https://www.mswg.org.my/sites/default/files/Malaysia-ASEAN%20CG%20Report%202017%20%28Website%29.pdf )
Despite the low numbers, comparatively Malaysia is well ahead of other countries in the ASEAN region including Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, whereby less than 15% women sits on the boards57.
The 30% Club is an organisation that campaigns for minimum 30% representation of women on boards with several chapters internationally, including Malaysia. When the 30% Club in Malaysia was established in 2015, only 17 Malaysian PLCs out of the Top 100 companies did not have a single woman on board. As of 2018, only 7 of top 100 PLCs have all-male board members58.
Large market capitalisation companies have been the focus of efforts by the Malaysian government and other relevant organisations in its bid to make Malaysia the first ASEAN country to reach 30% women on boards of directors, by year 2020. The Malaysian government launched the Women Directors Programme in 2011 to confront industry concerns about the lack of available female talent. Additionally, the Securities Commission and the 30% Club Malaysia have been actively engaging companies to identify suitable female talent. As of 2016, out of 1,093 women receiving training between 2012 and 2015, 40 women have been appointed to the position of board of directors59.
57 Deloitte (2016). Women in the Boardroom: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/risk/deloitte-au-risk-women-in-boardroom-global-perspective-fifth-edition-060617.pdf, pp 21-33. 58 The Star Online (2018). SC: Only 7of top 100 listed companies have all-male board members: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2018/01/22/closer-to-diversity-target/ 59 South China Morning Post (2018). What Malaysia really needs to do to empower women, according to rights activists: https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2135254/what-malaysia-really-needs-do-empower-women-according-rights-activists 21 Women-Owned Establishments & Entrepreneurship
Kuala Lumpur was recently ranked 41st out of 50 top global cities for women entrepreneurs in the Dell Women Entrepreneur Cities (WE Cities) Index60, whereby one in five companies in Malaysia are owned by women.
Women-owned firms are defined by which women hold at least 51% of the equity or the CEOs are women that own at least 10% of the equity. In 2015, according to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, 187,264 companies of the 907,065 active establishments nationwide were owned by women. Women-owned businesses constitute 20.6% of the total SMEs in Malaysia61.
According to data obtained from the Department of Statistics Malaysia, a strong majority of women-owned businesses are SMEs engaged in the services sector (92.7%), followed by the manufacturing sector (5.1%). Close to 9 in 10 (91.4%) of women entrepreneurs are from the services sector, specialising in providing services directly to households. Other popular business areas include retail, food stalls, beauty salons and hairdressing, kindergarten and nurseries. However, fewer women are to be found in the construction, agriculture as well as mining & quarrying sectors62.
Figure 9: Distribution of Women-owned SMEs by Sector (%) (Source: http://www.smecorp.gov.my/images/SMEAR/latest/2/Census%20English_FINAL.pdf )
The key source of funding for microenterprises are usually from personal funds. In the case of SMEs, funding is secured from financial institutions which include commercial banks, development financial institutions and microcredit organisations.
60 Dell (2017). Overcoming Barriers to Success: Dell Ranks Top 50 Global Cities for Women Entrepreneurs: https://www.dell.com/learn/al/en/alcorp1/press-releases/2017-07-17-dell-ranks-top-50-global-cities-for-women-entrepreneurs 61 The Star Online (2019). DPM: Govt spent RM2.3b on women entrepreneurs in 2018: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2019/01/29/dpm-govt-spent-rm2.3b-on-women-entrepreneurs-in-2018/1717780 62 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2016). Economic Census 2011 and Economic Census 2016: http://www.smecorp.gov.my/images/SMEAR/latest/2/Census%20English_FINAL.pdf 22 At the moment there are several women entrepreneurship programmes available in Malaysia that support female entrepreneurs to grow and expand their businesses:
Organisation Programme Brief Description
Standard Chartered Bank WOWnita63 Provides working capital to companies that are at least 51%-owned by women. Value-based intermediation- aligned financing scheme designed to encourage women to manage and grow their businesses.
SME Bank My SME Lady64 Financing to women entrepreneurs focusing on migrat- ing micro entrepreneurs for business expansion and growth which includes asset acquisition and working capital with a sub-limit for debit card with partnering bank, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad.
Women of Will Women of Will Entrepreneurial development and basic business skills Entrepreneurship programme aimed towards disadvantaged women. Program65 Beneficiaries receive about RM2,000 in micro-credit financing and six months of business training to set up their own company.
Tekun Nasional TemanNita Financ- To help Bumiputera women entrepreneurs between 18 ing Schem66 to 60 years old, to obtain group financing easily, quickly and efficiently for business purposes up to RM20,000.
Credit Guarantee BizWanita-i67 Direct financing scheme to cater to women entrepre- Corporation Malaysia neurs with a business less than 4 years in operation, (CGC) with a maximum financing amount of RM300,000.
Malaysian Chinese Malaysia Chinese Provides micro loans ranging from RM5,000 to Women Foundation Women RM30,000, to Malaysian Chinese women to start or (MCWEF) Entrepreneur expand their businesses. Foundation Loan68
Figure 10: Women Entrepreneurship Programmes in Malaysia
*all information is correct as of May 2019, any discrepancy is regretted.
In terms of government assistance, the MWFCD also has several entrepreneurship programs in place for small-scale businesses69: • Single Mother Skill Incubator (I-KIT) • Women Entrepreneurs Incubators (I-KeuNita) • Women Capacity Development Program • Women Entrepreneur Launching Grant
In 2018, the Malaysian government spent RM2.3 billion on 10 women entrepreneurship programmes to further accelerate women’s participation in business. The programmes provided intensive training in entrepreneurship, export support and financial assistance to women entrepreneurs and have since benefited 364,052 SME recipients70.
63 https://www.sc.com/my/business-banking/wownita/ 64 https://www.smebank.com.my/en/financing/programmes/mysmelady 65 http://womenofwill.org.my/training-programmes/ 66 https://www.tekun.gov.my/en/tekun-entrepreneur/temannita-financing-scheme/temannita-financing-scheme/ 67 https://www.cgc.com.my/bizwanita-i/ 68 http://chinesewomenfoundation.org/application/ 69 Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (n.b.) Program-Program Pembangunan Kapasiti Untuk Wanita yang Disediakan oleh Jabatan Pembangunan Wanita: https://www.kpwkm.gov.my/kpwkm/uploads/files/Jenis_Bantuan/jpw.pdf 70 The Star Online (2019). DPM: Govt spent RM2.3b on women entrepreneurs in 2018: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2019/01/29/dpm-govt-spent-rm2.3b-on-women-entrepreneurs-in-2018/1717780
23 WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS TO CAREER ADVANCEMENT FOR CORPORATE WOMEN?
This chapter examines the key findings on factors that influence women in the corporate sector in Malaysia today. The participants in this study were individuals in the working age group (20 to 65 years old). To ensure representativeness, single and married women, women with and without children, male and female employers and employees (representing multinational corporations, small-medium enterprises, government-linked companies and NGOs from different sectors) were selected for interviews.
The interview questions were framed to examine the following core issues: 1. Women’s attitudes towards work; to determine whether our women are working because they want to and why; or if it is because they don’t have any other choice, and why. 2. The barriers and impetuses for women to enter, remain, or climb the ladder in the corporate sector.
Do Malaysian Women Even Want to Work?
The Malaysian society still constructs itself around traditional gender roles in the family, where a man is seen as the main breadwinner, earning an income to support the family through work, while the women’s role is to care for the family and household. This traditional construct has persisted the general assumption that the majority of unemployed women have no interest to seek work due to housework and taking care of their children. Various studies conducted by the government and several different organisations have noted the same trend: women in Malaysia are dropping out of the workforce, and this has in effect impacted their representation at top-levels of management in the corporate sector. What these studies have in common is that they’ve all come to the same conclusion: women are dropping out due to familial duties71.
While the results are not surprising, what they have failed to note are the reasons why these women have chosen familial responsibilities over continuing their career. Subsequently it fails to answer the fundamental question of whether or not Malaysian women actually have the desire to work, in the first place.
Based on collected data through the interviews conducted, our primary research has come to the conclusion that most Malaysian women can be generally divided into two categories: those who work because they have a desire to; and those who work for survival. The common factors that most affected their decision to work were: independence of action, income, marital status and age.
We have noted that the marital status of women highly influences their desire to work. Single women or women who were married with no children between the ages of 20 to 35 years were more likely to be found working. The ages between 20 to 35 years could be defined as the peak working years for women.
However, further findings have revealed that some younger women - especially those in their 20s who were single and unmarried were only working because they were merely “passing the time” and “doing something” before they moved on to their next life-phase of being married. When questioned if they would quit their jobs upon marriage, the consensus was a resounding “yes”.
Women with children who were working on the other hand, were split into two sides: those who worked because they wanted to; and those who worked because they had to. One point that stood out was that working mothers in top-level positions were rare; most working mothers shared that they were content in middle-level positions, with no desire to move up the corporate ladder in the future.
71 Khazanah Research Institute (2018). The Malaysian Workforce – A Changing Landscape: http://www.krinstitute.org/assets/contentMS/img/template/editor/20181129_Part%202_KRI_SOH_2018.pdf, pp. 95. 24 Women Who Want to Work
Self-Fulfilment
Based on our interviews with the participants, we concluded that single women between the ages of 20 to 35 were more likely to “lean in” during this period of their lives. Most of these young women are more ambitious to move up the corporate ladder as they had fewer responsibilities (i.e.: children and families) to handle at this point of their lives. It could be said that, for most, they were operating under the belief that they had to achieve as much as they could while they still had the time and energy and - in some cases - the blessing of their families and partners to forge a career.
Working mothers were found to be on the other end of the spectrum, whereby majority are more likely to be less inclined to climb the corporate ladder. While there are, of course, highly ambitious working mothers to be found juggling their careers and families, they were, however, an exception and not the norm.
For the working mothers who weren’t aggressively pursuing a job promotion, when questioned why they remained in the workforce instead of quitting to care for their children, one prominent reason that came up repeatedly was that they suffered from a lack of identity. Most mothers who rejoined the workforce do so because they wanted to be known for themselves, rather than the wife of X or mother to Y and Z.
Boredom has also been cited as one of the reasons the interviewed mothers choose to remain in the workforce, stating that they craved “intellectual stimulation” after a day – or many days – spent interacting mostly with children.
For some women, taking care of their families is not enough to provide daily mental stimulation. Even though it could be considered a full-time job, many believe that they were not being productive or contributing citizens of society. One respondent even mentioned that she was not going to waste her (expensive) education and hours of studying just to stay at home for the rest of her life. Majority of the female respondents expressed that they felt it was unfair for their husbands to solely shoulder the responsibility of providing for the family, when they were equally capable of it themselves.
Another reason often cited for their wish to work was their desire to be role models for their children. Some female interviewees stressed the importance of letting their children seeing them strive at their careers, stating that it was important that their children grow up viewing their parents as equals. This sentiment expressed by the women is congruent with the growing body of evidence that shows that children raised by two working parents are found to be more independent and better equipped for the workplace than their counterparts72. Daughters raised by working mothers tend to earn more or attain high-ranking career positions. On the other hand, sons tend to be more supportive of women, more accepting of the concept of gender equality, and sensitive to creating a home environment that encourages their daughters to excel.
Financial Security
Financial security is often linked with income stability, individual level of saving, the ability to meet an emergency and adequate funds for retirement. With the rising cost of living in Malaysia, even middle- to upper middle-income families are starting to feel the pinch. On a single income, middle- to upper middle-income families have managed to sustain their daily lifestyles, but find themselves unable to save for emergencies, their children’s educations, or future retirement.
72 Harvard Business School (2015). Having a Working Mother is Good for You: https://www.hbs.edu/news/releases/Pages/having-working-mother.aspx 25 One respondent mentioned that although her husband made an adequate income to support their family, she was worried that her husband might lose his job someday, amid a volatile economy. She decided to rejoin the workforce for a short period to ease her worries on financial security. However, even after the family had managed to achieve a comfortable financial situation, she decided to continue working as she enjoyed the feeling of having a purpose and responsibilities outside of the home.
Other respondents mentioned that they worked because they wanted to provide their family with a better quality of life. In this case, the desire is not for subsistence, but a higher standard of living which impels them to work. This includes, for example, the financial ability to buy better bread, drive nicer cars, take family vacations overseas, or even send their children to better schools. Having dual incomes afforded the family more luxury to ensure their children were not for want of anything, such as after-school tuition, the pursuit of various hobbies, or birthday gifts. Having enough funds for an enriched quality of life meant their children would have a more comfortable childhood.
Women Who Don’t Want to Work / Women Who Have to Work
Rising Cost of Living
For lower income families, the rising cost of living in Malaysia has made a living on a single income almost impossible. In turn, the women in these families have no other choice but to work in order to provide for their families.
In a sense, these women are caught in a Catch-22 situation: if they chose to stay at home with their children, they would not have financial security and may find it harder to rejoin the workforce if she chose to in a few years. But if they went to work, they had to employ a babysitter to look after their children, which is a significant expense. Paying for childcare often leaves a slim margin for parents, and mothers are made to go back to work before they’re emotionally or physically ready.
On the option of going to work, one respondent replied, “is it even a choice?”
Even having a dual-income for these women means living hand-to-mouth, every month, scraping by just enough to sustain their family. If given a choice, these women would prefer to stay at home with their children and care for them full-time.
Waiting for Marriage
The median age at first marriage for females in Malaysia is 26 years73, with the highest number of marriages for females occurring between the ages of 25 to 29 years, as of 2017. While Malaysian women are getting married later due to modernisation - from the average age of 24.6 years in 1991 to 25.1 years in 2000, and to 25.7 years in 2010 – the increasing age is consistent with global trends.
In general, the higher their per capita income, the older they are when they marry for the first time. In developed European countries like Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Norway and Finland the age at first marriage has been observed to exceed 30 years. On the other hand, in low income African countries the age at first marriage is between 17 to 20 years for females and 23 to 25 years for males74. As an upper middle-income nation, Malaysia falls squarely in the middle. Religious conservatism and patriarchy in this upper middle-income country with high female youth literacy rates has been found to be the main driver for young marriages in the country75. Malaysia is still largely a patriarchal society, where women are expected to marry up, and unmarried women are a cause for worry for well-meaning parents. During family gatherings in Malaysia, it is not uncommon for family members to bombard single relatives about settling down and having children
73 Department of Statistics Malaysia (2018). Marriage and Divorce Statistics Malaysia 2018: https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=453&bul_id=ZFAzVjE1Ny93VlZXenloWXJBQmYyUT09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09 74 Metcalfe, J. (2013). These Countries Have the Oldest, and Youngest, First Marriages: https://www.citylab.com/equity/2013/10/these-countries-have-oldest-and-youngest-first-marriages/7313/ 75 Sisters in Islam and ARROW (2018). Child Marriage: Its Relationship with Religion, Culture and Patriarchy: https://arrow.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/National-Report-Child-Marriage-Single-Page.pdf As a largely patriarchal society, women are most likely to be targeted for their singlehood, and their successes measured by their marital status instead of their careers or other accomplishments. Though majority of marriages in Malaysia are not the source of most women’s economic support anymore, it is still often the source of their self-worth.
It is perceived as natural for many young females to grow up wanting nothing more than to find their future husbands and to be happily married. For these women, being educated and joining the workforce are nothing more than going through the motions before settling on their ultimate destination – marriage and motherhood. For them, being highly educated is just one way to be more attractive to their future spouse, especially in cases of arranged marriages, which is still practised in Malaysia today, albeit in smaller numbers and not the norm.
For them, possessing a higher education and a career were merely “something to fall back on” rather than for their own personal fulfilment or in case they did not get married – which would have been regarded as a personal failure. One female respondent aged 25 who is currently pursuing a PhD, mentioned that her family has joked several times that they would find her a husband if she couldn’t find one for herself by the time she is 28 years old. Now that she graduated from university, the next major life step was marriage. Although they were joking, she felt that there was an underlying seriousness and pressure in their hints for marriage. Pursuing a PhD is a success in its own right, but she felt like that achievement was being sidelined in her family’s list of priorities for her future.
Most females in Malaysian families also have the tendency to be overprotected by their families. In a way, these women are being groomed to be the perfect housewife, which is in line with the traditional model of man being leader/provider and to whom obedience is due by rule of culture or religion. It is not surprising, then, when these women see serving their husband and tending to their children as the be all and end all of their lives. For these women, the soft power of patriarchal culture guides their choice to put their career on hold for the sake of their children and their husband.
Barriers to Career Advancement for Corporate Women
After determining women's desire to work, here we take a closer look at the barriers and impetuses for women to enter, remain, or climb the ladder in the corporate sector. Based on our interview findings, we found several similarities. In order for us to have a cohesive view and systemic interpretation on the subject matter, they have been grouped together and presented below into separate categories based on their similarities in nature: Internal Factors, External Factors, and the Uneven Work Environment.
Internal Factors
Below, we will discuss the internal factors that affect womens’ decision making process regarding work. We found that internal factors are most likely to affect working women with children or with a family dependent.
- Culture & Society Dictates Women’s Behaviours In some parts of the country, especially in the East coast where the rural Muslim-majority lives, patriarchy is still heavily present. In urban areas like Kuala Lumpur, gender equality is assumed and actively taught, but in reality, not as present in the greater society. Patriarchy mostly does not have as firm a grasp on Malaysian institutions but still greatly influences the culture, particularly through the media. Many local films and TV series depict strong-willed and intelligent women. Yet each of their happy endings still included finding their Prince Charming. The patriarchal values underlying the Malaysian fixation with marriage are still embedded in the culture.
27 Many Malaysian women in traditional families are more likely to face gender discrimination early in their life, especially in terms of accessing further education. Traditional Asian families always tend to favour their sons over their daughters, especially in cases where the family is not well off. In these families, parents who only have sufficient funds to educate one child will almost always choose the son, leaving the daughter to fund her own way or to find a way to finance her brother’s education. The Asian mentality was that educated male children will take over the family business, as well as care of their sisters until their sisters’ eventual marriages, whereby the sisters will then move into the homes of their new husbands’ families. Hence, educating daughters was not a priority.
During the interviews, we asked female participants if they would be willing to support their husband should he decide to stop working and instead take over domestic and childcare duties. Majority of the ladies were actually not in favour of such an arrangement, citing the perception of their family and society as the number one reason. Some even said that such arrangements would bring shame to the family and cause them to be looked down upon. The prevalent traditional view that the men have to be the main providers and leaders of the family had to be upheld. Another concern raised by the interviewees was that perhaps the women themselves were not confident of their ability to bear the burden of income earning for their family. The lack of self-confidence that these women display is prevalent in their decisions to solely rely on their male partner.
When we asked various participants about the kind of qualities that successful women they personally knew possessed, the consensus was unanimous: the women were confident and assertive, with great networking skills. These women were self-motivated, ambitious and thrived on challenges at the workplace.
However, in some cases, these traits proved to be detrimental to the women’s reputations. Some women reported that displaying typically “male” traits at work put them in the firing range of comments related to their personal lives – especially if they were single. Their marital status, or lack thereof, would be fodder for gossip from both male and female colleagues, as well as clients. Especially for those women working in male-dominated industries, funnily enough, it was their male colleagues that pointed out their “unattractive non-feminine” qualities. Often the subject was that their ambitiousness or assertiveness was the cause of their unmarried status. According to the respondents, the social perception that single women are “inferior” to married women is still prevalent in today’s society. The loss of “feminine traits” was also noted by females and were not viewed favourably – they perceived these women as “too aggressive” and “hungry for success”.
Another common reason raised by some of our respondents was that many working mothers do not receive adequate moral support from their own family or their in-laws to continue working. Very often, after a child is born, nearly every mother was asked by their relatives whether they have plans to quit their jobs. Although both parents worked, no one ever asked their fathers or male respondents the same questions. According to the respondents, there is a perception that working while raising children meant that women were “bad mothers” for spending less time with their children, and they were frequently encouraged – and in some cases, forced – by their families or in-laws to quit their jobs and care for the children and household full-time. In reverse, no one thought that the men were perceived as “bad fathers” for not taking paternity leave to care for their newborn child.
- Double Shift / The Mental Burden According to a recent study by McKinsey (2017), “on average, 54% of women do all or most of the household work, compared to 22% of men. This gap grows when couples have children. Women with a partner and children are 5.5 times more likely than their male counterparts to do all or most of the household work. Even when women are primary breadwinners, they do more work at home.”76
It is evident that when working Malaysian mothers go home for the day, for most, their second full-time job begins. Even by today’s modern standards, where men are increasingly taking on housework together with their partners, it is still rare to find Malaysian men who participate in it. to her expectations.
76 McKinsey (2017). Women in the Workplace 2017: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/gender-equality/women-in-the-workplace-2017 28 When asked the reasons why, some of the common answers were that the woman herself did not expect her husband to help her as it was perceived to be “common knowledge as the wife’s job” or that the woman herself did not trust her husband to do a job that was up to her expectations.
Additionally, when the men were asked why they did not do housework, the answer was simply that they were not asked to. The underlying problem with this situation is that when the man expects his partner to ask for “help” around the house, the woman is assumed to be the manager of household chores in the first place. Again, culture and society dictate gender behaviours where the woman is immediately presumed to be responsible for matters relating to the household and childcare. What the male respondents didn’t seem to realise was that running a household requires meticulous planning and organising, and was not as easy as they perceived.
On the other hand, the female respondents were worried about having the mental and energy capacity to manage a gruelling full-time day job together with their second “full-time” job of running errands, fetching kids to after-school activities, and cooking dinner, amongst other household and family related responsibilities that women are expected to undertake in a day. Household management seemed never-ending, unpaid and taken for granted – and it left the woman feeling both physically and mentally exhausted at the end of the day, thus limiting their ability to fully focus on their careers.
One reason could somewhat explain why women still do most of the housework – because they insist to. One female respondent commented that she feared her house would “fall apart” if she depended on her husband to do the housework. Another separate male respondent echoed the sentiments, stating that his wife did not trust that he would do well at tasks like laundry or mopping the floor, thus he did not bother to offer his assistance anymore as his offer would be declined anyway. This sort of worry added to the woman’s mental burden, as one female respondent put it, “I may not have to worry about cleaning the house anymore, but I’ll have to worry whether my husband did it well or not!”
It is the combined burden of managing both full-time “jobs” that led to many working women with families to choose to step off or lean back from the workforce. As the man does not share the responsibilities equally with his partner, he gets more time to focus on his career, which may include staying late at the office or travelling for business.
Even if the men did step up, again the mental load exists of overseeing those chores were done properly by their husbands. A simple task of taking a child to a doctor most likely meant that the wife made the appointment, told the husband where and when to go, and reminded them of it the night before. One working female respondent even mentioned of the time she had to go to the clinic for an emergency, tasking her husband to pick up their kids from school. That afternoon she received a call from her panicked child – he had forgotten to pick them up. Since then, she would only rely on other relatives and family friends.
As many respondents put it, when their children are injured at school, who’s the first person that’s usually called by the teacher? When a child is up at night crying, which parent is most likely to stay up with the child? Which parent is most likely to be worrying at work about a sick child? Based on our respondents’ answers: it’s usually the women.
- It's Human Nature/Biology Gender roles in society dictate how we’re expected to act, speak, dress, groom, and conduct ourselves based upon our assigned sex. For example, it is a general expectation globally for girls and women to dress in typically feminine ways and be polite, accommodating, nurturing and emotional. Men on the other hand, are generally expected to be strong, aggressive, and bold. In addition to these generally assumed gendered traits, traditional Asian values and the historically patriarchal nature of Chinese, Malay and Indian families expect that women in the family will take care of the children, cook, and clean the home, while men take care of finances, work on the car, and do the home repairs.
77 Goldhill, O. (2018). Scientific research shows gender is not just a social construct: https://qz.com/1190996/scientific-research-shows-gender-is-not-just-a-social-construct/ 29 However, scientific research has shown that gender differences may not be purely a result of social construct, but also has a basis in biology77. It is a fact that women carry their children for nine months and give birth to new lifes. For most women, there is an unmistakable bond between mother and child. The suggestion that women can have high-flying careers as long as their husbands are willing to share the parenting load equally assumes that most women will feel as comfortable as men do about being away from their children.
Based on our interviews with female respondents with children, that is simply not the case. According to the respondents, it is natural for women to want to be there fully for their children and to experience their key moments together. Most of the female respondents admit they struggle with an instinctual tug on their hearts when they are away from their children, following the first few months after the births of their children.
It’s these maternal instincts and societal pressures that put a strain on a woman’s career. Working women, especially those in high-level positions, are not only expected to be good employees but also a good mothers, wives, daughters-in-law, housekeepers, etc. If she chooses family responsibilities over professional responsibilities, she’s criticised by her colleagues. If she’s not “there” for her kids, she’s criticised for being a bad mother and most likely experiences internal guilt. This puts an especially heavy burden on women who are expected to juggle all aspects of her life. For most women, stepping back or dropping out from the workforce is usually chosen to avoid being emotionally and physically burned out.
External Factors
The findings below present external factors that affect women's’ ability to enter or progress in certain career tracks. These outside forces are mostly out of the woman’s control and are due to security purposes, employee expectations, or the rapidly changing business environment.
- Nature of Job When we asked several employers and HR recruiters within the STEM and production industries why there is a lack of women in their employment and especially in senior management, the simple answer was that there were simply little or no women interested in the positions. According to the employers and HR recruiters interviewed, the nature of the job is a very important factor that many women initially fail to take into consideration when they head into university and only find out after graduation. Although Malaysia is seeing increasing numbers of female engineering graduates, the industry insiders that we interviewed revealed that very few make it onto field work. Instead, many are opting to work in an office environment.
From a production perspective, HR recruiters and employers mentioned that majority of female employees just aren’t willing to “get their hands and feet dirty”. For example, positions such as Production Head or Head of Factory are simply not attractive to most female jobseekers. The nature of the job is hot, dirty and requires very long hours – it is simply very rare to find women who are willing to sweat it out and work in these conditions.
Although many young women are actively being encouraged to pursue STEM-related subjects at university, many don’t pursue careers in the industry upon graduation. When we asked respondents why that was the case, we found that familial pressures and lack of understanding beforehand about the reality of a career in engineering, advanced manufacturing or healthcare, were what made them step back.
For example, for women with children, working off-shore for a long period would mean many days spent away from the family. As one respondent put it, “working off-shore was fine when I was younger with less responsibilities. Now that I am a mother, it’s hard to justify working away from home for two weeks in isolation from my kids. My children need to see their mother working, but most important of all is that they see their mother.”
30 For single women, the experience can be quite lonely and alienating. Through the interviews, we found that younger women, especially, have been dissuaded by their parents from pursuing a career offshore over concerns for their safety and well-being. The women themselves felt like they were being misled, eventually settling for slower-paced and sedentary roles that were more suitable to their temperament.
Even if companies tried to make field roles more attractive to women, the nature of the job which is rigid in structure, would never change. The long hours and physical requirements of the role just aren’t flexible enough for the majority of women looking to progress in that career track.
- “Attractiveness” and Unwanted Attention Especially in male dominated industries, female attractiveness can either be an advantage or a detriment. Even if a woman was willing to put in the long hours and travel extensively, and was comfortable in a male-dominated environment, chances are she may experience biased behaviour.
Although many companies have discrimination or harassment policies in place, from time to time problems do still occur. One respondent mentioned that being a somewhat attractive female can mean that men are more willing to listen or disclose information. On the other hand, several employers have mentioned that a female who was deemed “too attractive” would not be conducive for the workplace.
One example was that an attractive woman would incite jealousy amongst the other female colleagues and the males would be “too distracted to work”. Despite a professional environment, more often than not, it invites gossip and opens the door for rumours to spread. There is an assumption that attractive females are incapable of work and won the role based on her looks alone.
In very rare cases, this invites unwanted attention from overzealous colleagues. From an employer’s point of view, it is always just much easier to let go of the female employee in a mostly male environment to avoid similar incidences in the future. It’s also a measure to ensure that other female candidates do not go through the trauma of experiencing the same thing.
Previous bad experiences discourage companies from considering female candidates, and this sort of discrimination is usually disguised as a form of protection. When we asked the female respondents what they thought about this, the general consensus was that they agreed with the employer’s decision. Despite it being a discrimination against women, it just simply would not be a conducive workplace for the female.
- Gender Discrimination and Stereotypes Some may argue that the scarcity of women in certain industries may be a consequence of gender bias, but our findings have revealed that this may not always be the case. Our interviews have found that there is gender discrimination and stereotyping in the corporate sector – but within reason. In several cases, interviewees talked about the nature of the job and the personal safety of the female employee in the harsh and/or discriminatory environments that she would potentially be exposed to.
HR recruiters and employers have given several specific examples where this was the case. In one instance, a role required frequent travel to rural industrial areas that were populated mostly by men. Thus, the work environment was not favourable to women’s safety. When they explained this to female candidates, all of them rejected the job offer. In another instance, the nature of the job required frequent travel to the Middle East region. While solo female business travellers may not necessarily experience safety issues, in many parts of the Middle East they may experience direct hostility and may not have as many business opportunities open to them.
31 Even when employers today are actively pushing for female representation, women are being resented and discriminated against for exactly just that. In another case a respondent spoke about a client who was so focused on only hiring women, that they did not consider the male candidates. When the female hire started at her new workplace, rumours were rife that she was only chosen simply because she was a woman as opposed to being based on merit. Such sentiments would only breed resentment within an organisation and would not allow the woman, or women, to carry out their roles based on “imposter syndrome”.
- Challenges of Rejoining the Workforce Many women choose to take a career hiatus during their children’s early childhood years in order to focus on raising the family and take care of the home. Doing so not only takes them out of the workforce but disrupts their career advancement.
Based on our findings from primary and secondary research, women who have taken a career break most likely face difficulties returning to the job market. Discussions with several HR recruiters have suggested that this is partly due to the perception among recruiters and employers that a career gap is indicative of a decline in skills. Such women are perceived as not being up-to-date with latest industry trends and knowledge, and are therefore incapable of being key contributors when they return, especially for technical positions in the STEM industry. Unless the woman possessed a specific job experience or highly sought-after skill, many employers and recruiters are unwilling to take the risk or take the time to get returning women up to speed.
Women returning to the workforce would naturally seek similar roles that they held before their career break, demanding a similar level of salary required for the job. From an HR practitioner’s point of view, such demands are not aligned with their career break where re-skilling the woman is required. Given a choice between a fresh graduate or a woman looking to return to the workforce, the fresh graduate would be given preference. As they put it, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” and “the woman may bring over values from her previous jobs and it would be harder to change her perception compared to someone just starting out”.
Additionally, fresh grads would have less familial responsibilities and would therefore be able to solely dedicate more time to their career. The other major concern was that the returning woman would not be as willing to stay late on occasion, or would request for additional time off to tend to family emergencies.
As a result, this biasness is intensified when the woman desperate to come back to work accepts a lower-skilled role than the ones she held prior to her career break. According to a survey by Robert Walters, less than 5% of returning women have been offered a more senior or even similar role prior to their career break78.
Speaking to returning mothers, many admitted that they found finding work after a career break to be impossible if they did not have an advocate to vouch for their capabilities. It was important that they had a sponsor or someone who believed in their ability prior to their career break. They also found it difficult to pivot to a different industry than their previous careers.
One of the biggest challenges of returning to work for mothers is that they are not made to feel welcome upon their return. Many working mothers have reported the lack of basic amenities such as mothers’ rooms, having to resort to pumping milk in the company toilet or store room for some privacy. Coming back from maternity leave when their minds and heart are not completely in the work that they do again, makes it hard for the woman to feel compelled to stay in the workforce.
78 Robert Walters (2016). Understanding employers' attitudes towards women returning to work: https://www.robertwalters.com/content/dam/robert-walters/country/singapore/files/whitepapers/robert-walters-women-returning-to-work.pdf 32 The Uneven Work Environment
- Pay Gap Our study has found that there is not so much of a gender pay gap for men and women vying for the same positions. Discussions with several HR managers and recruiters indicated that there are no separate salaries for male or female applicants applying for the same position. Meaning that employers do not look at the female applicant and decide to pay her less on the basis that she’s a woman.
The real gender pay gap in Malaysia lies in the fact that women are more likely to apply for lower-ranking positions that don’t offer high remuneration. One reason behind this is again – the matter of work-life balance. Higher-ranking positions require more dedication and hours away from the woman’s family. Majority of women do not want to spend extended periods of time away from their family and sacrifice time with their children that they can never get back again. This is the reason why there are many more women in middle-management positions – they feel that they have reached a comfortable peak at their career and are not interested in moving any further up the career ladder. The balance between a respectable position at work without sacrificing their time with their family is enticing enough to many Malaysian women.
Taking that into consideration, we found that pay discrimination most notably affects women who decide to rejoin the workforce in their late 30s to 40s, usually after a prolonged career break.
Figure 11: Median monthly salaries and wages of employees by age group and gender in Malaysia, 2016 (Source: https://penanginstitute.org/publications/issues/what-widens-the-gender-pay-gap )
The problem is women often find it difficult to re-enter because they don’t have the necessary facilities in place to keep them up to date while they are away from the workforce. There are not many flex-work or part-time job opportunities that allow them keep abreast of industry trends while they are away. As a result, when they rejoin, they get desperate and are more likely to accept any job they can get, usually ones that are lower ranking and lower paying than their previous one. Older women in particular are also more susceptible to greater pay gaps. As seen in Figure 9 above, Malaysian women in their 50s and 60s earn about 23% and 30% less than their counterparts.
33 Moreover, based on responses we’ve received, women are far less likely than men to negotiate their salary. Women are also less likely to request for a pay raise, under the perception that they would be seen as pushy and demanding, which is in contrast to men who are viewed as assertive and confident when they do so. The possibility of repercussions to their professional reputation for being seen as “too demanding” when asking for a pay raise is therefore too great for women to make the effort, despite hurting them more financially in the long run.
According to the Labour Force Survey Report 2016, nearly 60% of part-timers in Malaysia are women, and 32% have cited family responsibilities as the reason79.
Although working part-time enables women to better balance work, household and child care responsibilities, these jobs are often associated with lower wages and job security, and less training and promotion opportunities than full-time jobs. As women are more likely to be shouldered with family and household responsibilities, in comparison to men, they are least likely to take on higher-paying jobs that usually require more hours on the clock than the usual 9 to 5.
- Sponsorship/Mentorship Having a mentor is a crucial benefit for any employee as it legitimises the mentored individual’s capabilities and professional prowess in the eyes of managers and leaders in the organisation. The mentor’s wisdom and experience could prove crucial to the mentee’s understanding of the corporate environment.
Malaysian women experience barriers when it comes to finding a mentor especially in male-dominated organisations where mentoring opportunities are limited. Women have been socially excluded from informal meeting relationships and have greater difficulty when it comes to acquiring informal mentors in the same extent as their male colleagues.
It has been found that male managers typically choose to sponsor or mentor other males instead of females, a phenomenon referred to as “homosocial reproduction” - whereby men in powerful positions preserve the status quo by sponsoring other men in order to reinforce a gendered reproductive practice. Perhaps the other reason is to avoid sending the wrong message. Male mentors do not take women as mentees in fear of engaging in a close professional relationship with a woman and how this might be perceived by others. They are also wary of being accused of wrongdoing, and would prefer to distance themselves away from such situations.
Malaysia has several programmes in place that enable women to find mentors outside of the organisation such as MaGIC (Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre), SME Corp Malaysia, Maxis, the Foundation for Women’s Educational and Vocational Training, Lean In Malaysia, and many more. Within corporate organisations in Malaysia, mentorship opportunities or programmes for women are not common. According to our findings, many women believe that they lack the required support for their career progression from higher levels of management.
- Sexual Harassment In Malaysia, the most common predicament is victim blaming and tolerance of sexual harassment. The manifestation of the deep-rooted patriarchy in Malaysian society is especially evident through the media by its perpetuation through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies, and the glamorisation of sexual violence.
For example, in 2017 a Member of Parliament in Penang made a statement that there is nothing wrong with rape victims marrying their rapists, as they would not have to face a “bleak future”. He also said that girls as young as nine or 12 years, as long as they have reached puberty, are ready to be married80. This is evidence that even today women are still seen by some as objects, possessions or somewhat inferior to men in Malaysia.
79 Penang Institute (2018). What widens the gender pay gap?: https://penanginstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/april_27_2018_updated1_download.pdf 80 Malay Mail (2017). Future ‘not bleak’ for victims if they marry their rapists, Umno MP says: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2017/04/04/future-not-bleak-for-victims-if-they-marry-their-rapists-umno-mp-says/1349427 Female journalists in Malaysia spoke of the same culture of unwanted sexual behaviour by the male politicians they interview, from innuendos and lewd texts to the more serious, such as groping and forcible kissings81. Enabled and encouraged by the power structures that make it difficult for the victims to speak out against them, the male perpetrators threaten the jobs of female journalists by declining to disclose information or grant interviews when the journalists refuse their unwanted sexual advances.
When questioned why they never reported the harassment in the first place, the victims reported they were afraid of victim-blaming or being fired by their employers for causing trouble. This patriarchal victim-blaming culture explains why very few victims have the courage to report to authorities, not to mention seeking rape survival support, because they are afraid of being blamed, looked-down upon and deserted by society.
Sexual harassment is considered a workplace problem in Malaysia82. The Human Resource Ministry’s Code of Practice for the Prevention and Eradication of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace has made little impact on mitigating the issue. According to the Association of Women Lawyers (AWL) president Tham Hui Ying, sexual harassment is “not taken seriously enough”83.
Sexual harassment is one of the reasons why women drop out of the workforce. Whether they suffered in silence or reported to company management, it diminishes their self-confidence and demotivates them from continuing to work. Survivors of sexual harassment deal with their ordeal by keeping quiet or just leaving their job. Not all employers have sexual harassment policies in place. When we posed the question to our respondents who they would turn to in such cases, some of them did not know who they would turn to or had never thought about it.
81 Asian Correspondent (2018). Female journalists, male politicians and the epidemic of sexual harassment in Asean: https://asiancorrespondent.com/2018/01/journalists-sexual-harassment-asean/ 82 The Star Online (2017). #Malaysia too: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/10/29/malaysia-too-since-the-stunning-harvey-weinstein-expose-many-have-shared-their-metoo-stories-includi/#9XGTWpLvJEZmb5Rh.99 83 The Star Online (2018). Groups call for Sexual Harassment Act: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/01/27/groups-call-for-sexual-harassment-act-there-is-a-real-need-for-legal-reform-and-change/#GdyUOz0We3AUbw4I.99 35 ROAD MAP TO GENDER EQUALITY
This study indicates that women empowerment in Malaysia is a work in process. In order to fully achieve gender equality, this study would like to suggest several recommendations to the private and public sectors, policymakers and the Malaysian government as a whole.
Creating Awareness & Changing Behaviours
So, what can we do to keep our Malaysian women in the workforce? Firstly, the most important part is changing the behaviour and attitudes of employers regarding work-life balance and women empowerment. Leaders want their employees to choose to do the right things, to interact in positive ways, and to apply best practices. Employees are expected to act in the best interest of the organisation and take on new, more effective, behaviours. Ideally, they should choose to do these things because they see value in doing them – not simply because of an organisational policy.
The best place to start is by creating awareness and changing paradigms.
When people are not aware of an issue, they will not see a problem. Based on our findings, sexist problems still prevail due to ignorance. Many male participants don’t recognise more nuanced sexist stereotypes or discriminatory situations that women often find themselves in. Organisations must actively engage with all employees regardless of gender, in identifying and addressing subconscious gender discrimination behaviour in a typical workplace situation.
The second is power. When senior male management make an inappropriate joke, others are afraid to speak up out of fear of repercussions. Women empowerment and gender equality must come from genuine will to change from all levels of the organisation, and not merely because the government says so. Organisations must not jump on the bandwagon of gender diversity because it’s a hot topic. Management should lead by example and “walk the walk, and talk the talk” when it comes to bringing about change. Management also needs to appear less adversarial and more open, in order for their employees to be confident to approach them and speak up when something’s wrong.
People behave differently when they see things from new and different perspectives. When a team member sees new behaviour as more work, useless, or threatening, there will be resistance. But, if there is in-depth understanding of the need for change as a short-term sacrifice for a long-term gain, there would be more willingness to embrace change on their part.
Incentives for Women to Continue Working
Providing a welcoming and supportive environment for women returning to the workforce would most likely encourage them to stay instead of finding reasons to drop out.
• Provide Infrastructure
Many companies today still lack in basic amenities for nursing moms. Breastfeeding or mothers’ rooms are simple enough to establish, but are often overlooked by many organisations. Doing so will help with the self-esteem of nursing mothers who may be embarrassed or too shy to take out their nursing equipment from their desk to a public space. The availability of a nursing room will provide a safe space for new mothers.
36 • Flexible Work Arrangements
Businesses should explore possibilities for flexible working arrangements. Flexible working arrangements do not have to be narrowly defined as part-time work but as a range of options including flexible hours, compressed hours, working from home, tele/e-working, or varying start and finish times.
The lack of flexible working arrangements and a generally unsupportive environment for working mothers has been cited as the main reason why many Malaysian women are searching for new employment, or don’t return at all.
The subject of work-life balance came up in all our interviews and were consistent with the findings above. Many cited that flexible working hours and time management are the number one concern for women when it comes to the issue of working. The challenge to find a suitable balance between work and daily living affects not only women, but their families as well. Many of them are trapped in the decision between paid employment or care work. The work-life balance is greatly influenced by the extent of gendered roles. It was found that work-life balance greatly influenced women’s decision to remain in a specific company or even the remain in the workforce at all. It also influenced their commitment, satisfaction and productivity.
Several interviewees cited that flexible working hours provided by their existing employers were the number one reason why they were unwilling to change employers for career advancement or financial prospects. They were aware that such a benefit was still rare in the current Malaysian corporate sector and were willing to sacrifice their career prospects in other companies for the sake of work-life balance. Working mothers, especially those with young children, are naturally anxious when their children get sick. If the working mother had flexible hours to take her child to the doctor without repercussions from her employer, it would greatly increase her productivity at work (as she wouldn’t be “forced” to work while anxiously thinking about her sick child) and increase her satisfaction (employers who were understanding).
By not narrowly defining working hours, these options enable women to improve their lives by providing better balance between work and home. Although it may not necessarily change traditional gendered roles, it will enable working mothers to balance between their caring responsibilities with paid work.
For employers, flexible working arrangements means retainment of female talent, higher working productivity and efficiency (as the mother would be able to work without her mind elsewhere knowing that her child was only a few metres away in company day-care service) as well as more women open to career advancement opportunities. Rigid working hours are not encouraging for women who have to put in the hours to climb the career ladder; flexible working hours would mean that they no longer have to sacrifice hours away from their child in order to succeed career-wise.
Flexible working arrangements not only advantage parents but employees who do not have children or family obligations. This can improve relations among co-workers and instil a sense of fairness. Giving women “special treatment” can backfire if the broader norms shaping the behaviour of all employees do not change.
37 Mentorship and Sponsorship Programs
To ensure that Malaysian women have an equal chance when it comes to career-progression, companies need to create mentorship and sponsorship programs that connect women in their midcareer with senior executives. It is important that they have a mentor who can help them navigate the corporate terrain and provide necessary lifestyle advice, as well as give them the necessary support when the time comes for job promotions.
With a mentor, younger women in particular will have the opportunity to witness first-hand the confidence, leadership and accomplishment in older established women in order to envision herself with those qualities. Having local examples provide more attainable and imaginable visions of success. It shows that success is replicable in their minds and they would be more inclined to follow in their footsteps.
Developing Family Friendly Work Designs
Reducing the burden of unpaid care is crucial if the Malaysian government wants more women in the workforce. Government rhetoric often reinforces gender stereotypes and women’s role as the primary caregivers. While encouraging employers to offer part-time work and flexible arrangements is welcomed in the public and private sectors, the government has rarely encouraged fathers to take on childcare and housework more equally with their partners. Instead of just encouraging maternity leave, a more inclusive approach would be to introduce family leave.
Besides that, childcare services provided at the workplace can ease the lives of many young parents. Being close to their child allows them to feel safe and responsible, and allows them to be more focused at work. Providing childcare facilities fundamentally supports the retention and advancement of women, especially during critical years for pursuing senior and executive roles
Savvy employers must realise that childcare isn’t just a personal issue for families, but an approach to both attract and retain talent. Employees would be enabled to work their jobs longer and miss fewer workdays.
Many companies today offer benefits such as travel allowances, free parking and gym memberships for their employees. The next logical step would be to look into on-site child care. For smaller companies, the suggestion could be to partner with day care centres located nearby.
Overall, providing day care at the workplace can be expensive but in the long-run it decreases employee absenteeism and increases employee morale.
38 THE FUTURE IS FEMALE / CONCLUSION
Try to answer the following questions84:
1. Who was the first man in space? 2. What was the name of the first animal in space? 3. Who was the first woman in space?
Did you get them right? Don’t worry, not many people did either.
Around the world, Malaysian women are making waves. Dato’ Michelle Yeoh graces Hollywood screens, Datuk Nicol David is considered the world’s greatest squash player of all time, Yuna and Zee Avi are recognisable names in the music industry.
On home turf, Malaysian women have also successfully smashed the glass ceiling – Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akthar Aziz was the first woman governor of the Malaysia’s central bank and is widely regarded as an important figure in driving the growth of Islamic finance not just in Malaysia, but in other parts of Asia as well. Datuk Yvonne Chia made waves in the banking sector, Dr. Mazlan Othman was Malaysia's first astrophysicist. Malaysian women have also proven themselves to be business savvy; Tan Hooi Ling and Grab, Vivy Yusof and Fashion Valet, as well as Neelofa and Naelofar Hijab, are some notable examples.
Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz is one of Malaysia’s longest-serving public servants and is widely regarded as the “Iron Lady” for her trailblazing efforts to raise the trade profile of Malaysia and ASEAN. Just recently, Malaysia appointed their first female Chief Justice, Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, and Latheefa Koya as the new chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
In 2018, Malaysia appointed its first female Deputy Prime Minister, YAB Dato' Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail - giving all Malaysian women the audacity of hope to be the first female Prime Minister.
Over 820 women have returned to the workforce under TalentCorp’s Career Comeback Programme since its launch in 2015, and the female LFPR in Malaysia has seen an increase in 7.9%, making an additional 830,000 women in the workforce since 2010. This is evidence that women in Malaysia want to work, if they are provided with a supportive environment or business infrastructure that allows them to both care for their families and contribute to the workplace. Organisations must forego rigid structures and explore flexibility in how they employ women. By having control over their schedule, women (and men) who want to have a career and a family can make it work.
The Malaysian Government must be applauded for taking pro-active steps to encourage returning women. Efforts such as one-year tax exemption for returning women and 90-day maternity leave, are setting the right examples. As soon as more employers realise that offering a work-life balance will reap more benefits for their company in terms of employee productivity and their bottom-line, in time such policies will trickle down to the private sector.
Being more inclusive towards women is not a matter of choice, but a necessity in order to remain competitive in today’s business environment. If the commitment is authentic enough and present at all levels of management, real and lasting changes will come, contributing to the success of the nation.
84 1. Yuri Gagarin; 2. Laika; 3. Valentina Tereshkova 39 APPENDIX A – REGULATORY AGENCIES Social Welfare Department of Malaysia (JKMM) Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat, Aras 6, 9-18, No 55, Persiaran Perdana, Presint 4, 62100 Putrajaya, Malaysia. Tel: +6 03 – 8000 8000 | Fax: +6 03 – 8323 2045 Email: [email protected] | Website: http://www.jkm.gov.my/jkm/index.php
General Information: The Social Welfare Department (JKMM) was established in April 1946, and has evolved over the years through many phases in fulfilling its role in national development. From its involvement with major problems caused by the Second World War, the role and functions of the department have expanded to include prevention and rehabilitation services of social issues and community development. As one of the government agencies with a role in social development, the department aims to increase competency, performance, productivity and innovation capability of the welfare sector workforce.
National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) Bangunan LPPKN, No. 12B, Jalan Raja Laut, Chow Kit, 50350 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: +603 – 2613 7555 | Fax: +603 – 2693 7250 E-mail: [email protected] | Website: http://www.lppkn.gov.my/
General Information: The National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) was established in 1966 under the Population and Family Development Act 1966 (Act 352) under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department. In 1984, it expanded from providing family planning services to cover a wider population and socio-economic development perspectives. In 2001, the NPFDB was decided to be the lead agency in the areas of population, family development and human reproduction under the purview of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, with the function to advise the government on matters relating to policies and programmes on population, family development and human reproduction.
Department for Women Development (JPW) Aras 23-25, No. 55, Persiaran Perdana, Presint 4, 62100 Putrajaya, Malaysia. Tel: +603 – 8323 1000 | Fax: +603 – 8323 2034 E-mail: [email protected] | Website: https://www.jpw.gov.my/
General Information: The Department for Women Development (JPW) was initially established as the National Advisory Council on the Integration of Women in Development (NACIWID) in 1975 to ensure the involvement of women in national development. The Council was then upgraded to the Division for Women’s Affairs in 1985, and moved from the Prime Minister’s Department to the Ministry of National Unity and Community Development in 1990.
Today, the department has been restructured and renamed to the Department of Women’s Development to function as the implementing machinery for the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. The department carries out programmes and activities for the development of women consistent with the vision and mission of the Ministry and is made up of five divisions: • Women Policy Implementation Division • Capacity Building Division • Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation Division • Guidance and Counselling Division • Management Services Division
Social Institute of Malaysia (ISM) Lot PT 13856, KM 6 Lebuhraya Kuala Lumpur - Seremban, Sungai Besi, 57100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: +603 – 7985 3333 | Fax: +603 – 7985 3300 E-mail: [email protected] | Website: http://www.ism.gov.my/en/
General Information: ISM is an agency of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development with the main objective of being a centre in the fields of social policy and social development. It acts a training hub for civil servants and other social practitioners, as well as a resource centre for new ideas and information in the field of social policy and social development. The institute conducts training courses, seminars, workshops and forums as well as major conferences in social development. In its efforts to enhance capacity building, the institute has established networks with local and international universities to develop a more comprehensive curriculum and effective strategies to empower knowledge and promote latest ideas to those who attend courses at the institute. ISM acts as a bridge between policy-makers and policy-movers as it facilitates the Malaysian government in its implementation of the National Social Policy.
NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women (NIEW) Level 28, No.55, Persiaran Perdana, Presint 4, 62100 Putrajaya, Malaysia. Tel: +603 – 8323 1109 | Fax: +603 – 8323 2120 E-mail: [email protected] | Website: http://niew.gov.my/
General Information: The NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women (NIEW) was officially established on July 2006 under the purview of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. NIEW organises programmes on training and capacity building for NAM Member Countries in critical areas which have been identified as crucial to the empowerment of women, such as Women in Politics and Economy, Women in Education and ICT Women in Health and Violence Against Women. NIEW is the NAM Institute established by the Malaysian Government dedicated to training, research and management in collaboration with the diploma community, international bodies, private sector, academia and civil society to ensure empowerment of women and achieve gender equality in NAM Member Countries.
40 APPENDIX A – RELATED ASSOCIATIONS
All Women’s Action Society (AWAM) 85, Jalan 21/1, Sea Park, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia Tel: +603 – 7877 4221 | Fax: +603 – 7874 3312 E-mail: [email protected] | Website: https://www.awam.org.my/
General Information: The All Women's Action Society (AWAS) is a feminist non-profit organisation based in Malaysia. The organisation was established in 1985 following a workshop held that highlighted issues of violence against women. The group works on a local and national level to empower women and bring about social policy change.
Activities carried out by AWAS include advocating for policy changes to ensure women’s rights and gender equality, facilitating social transformations, and supporting women facing crisis situations. They also facilitate training sessions for gender sensitisation, harassment, rape awareness, leadership, and political participation.
National Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Malaysia (NAWEM) Lot 13, Rumah Puspanita, JKR 5171, Jalan Hose, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: +603 – 2142 3325 | Fax: +603 – 2148 5955 E-mail: [email protected] | Website: https://www.nawem.org.my/index.php
General Information: NAWEM is an NGO platform for women entrepreneurs, providing opportunities for skill and knowledge acquisition, leadership and inspiration. The organisation was established in 1993 and since its inception has represented women entrepreneurs from SMEs to large organisations. Besides promoting, developing and enhancing the efforts and activities of women entrepreneurs, NAWEM’s aim is to develop leadership skills among women who own and operate businesses, conduct seminars, workshops and training programs, and act as a liaison between members and the government, state and local agencies, as well as agencies and bodies. Members’ businesses cover a wide cross-section of sectors including manufacturing, IT, financial services, education, aerospace, trading, food and beverage, engineering and several others.
Sisters in Islam No. 4 Lorong 11/8E, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. Tel: +603 – 7960 3357 / 7960 5121 / 7960 6733 | Fax: +603 – 7960 8737 E-mail: [email protected] | Website: http://www.sistersinislam.org.my/
General Information: SIS was formed in 1988 and registered as an NGO in 1993 as SIS Forum Malaysia, with the name Sisters in Islam retained as an authorship name. SIS’s commitment is to promote the rights of women within the frameworks of Islam and universal human rights. Its efforts to promote the rights of Muslim women are based on the principles of equality, justice and freedom enjoined by the Quran. SIS focuses on challenging laws and policies made in the name of Islam that discriminate against women. As such the NGO tackles issues covered under Malaysia's Islamic family and sharia laws, such as polygamy, child marriage, moral policing, Islamic legal theory and jurisprudence and violence against women.
NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women (NIEW) Level 28, No.55, Persiaran Perdana, Presint 4, 62100 Putrajaya, Malaysia. Tel: +603 – 8323 1109 | Fax: +603 – 8323 2120 E-mail: [email protected] | Website: http://niew.gov.my/
General Information: The NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women (NIEW) was officially established on July 2006 under the purview of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. NIEW organises programmes on training and capacity building for NAM Member Countries in critical areas which have been identified as crucial to the empowerment of women, such as Women in Politics and Economy, Women in Education and ICT Women in Health and Violence Against Women. NIEW is the NAM Institute established by the Malaysian Government dedicated to training, research and management in collaboration with the diploma community, international bodies, private sector, academia and civil society to ensure empowerment of women and achieve gender equality in NAM Member Countries.
Tenaganita 12, Jalan 6/11, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. Tel: +603 – 7770 3671 / +603 7770 3691 E-mail: [email protected] | Website: http://www.tenaganita.net/
General Information: Tenaganita is a human rights organisation based in Malaysia dedicated to protecting and advocating for the right of migrants, refugees, women and children from situations of abuse, discrimination, slavery and human trafficking.
The organisation currently focuses their efforts on four major areas: • Migrant and Refugee Rights Protection • Anti-Trafficking in Persons • Refugee Action Programme • Shelter for Women in Crisis
41 Women’s Centre for Change 241 Jalan Burma, 10350 Penang. Tel: +604 – 228 0342 E-mail: [email protected] | Website: https://wccpenang.org/
General Information: Women’s Centre for Change (WCC) is based in Penang and aims to help women and children in the northern region who are victims of abuse, rape or sexual assault. WCC provides immediate assistance to women needing crisis intervention in the form of face-to-face, telephone and email counselling, temporary shelter and legal advice. WCC’s Advocacy section also conducts campaigns and lobbying activities to end violence against women and children by working in tandem with sister organisations in the national-level coalition of Malaysian women’s groups.
LeadWomen Level 30, The Gardens North Tower, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: +603 – 2035 9710 | Fax: +603 – 2035 9797 E-mail: [email protected] | Website: https://lead-women.com
General Information: LeadWomen was established to innovate the board director recruiting process in Malaysia. LeadWomen provides a one-stop solution for both boards looking for high calibre candidates and candidates looking for board directorship positions, with a focus on increasing the number of women in board director positions. For the boards seeking innovative and female board members, LeadWomen identifies, recommends and provides a list of high performing candidates.
Lean In Malaysia E-mail: [email protected] | Website: http://leaninmalaysia.com/
General Information: Founded by Sarah Chen and Abir Abdul Rahim in 2015, Lean In Malaysia is an independently run women empowerment platform that's part of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In Organisation network, a global community dedicated to helping women achieve their ambitions.
The organisation focuses on three pillars of empowering, enabling, and educating women in Malaysia. Their Lean In Career Programme is a career accelerator programme that is targeted towards female managers with two to five years of managerial experience, looking to position themselves for a promotion. The programme aims to equip female middle managers with tools, support system and the confidence to attain relevant skills for the journey to career leadership.
The 30% Club Malaysia Tel: +6019 – 2310 174 E-mail: [email protected] | Website: https://30percentclub.org/
General Information: The 30% Club started as a campaign in the UK in 2010 with a goal of achieving a minimum of 30% women on FTSE-100 boards. The 30% Club was launched in Malaysia on 8th May 2015 by the Prime Minister. The purpose of the 30% Club is to inspire debate and discussion at corporate leadership and board levels on gender diversity and its benefits to business, as well as to assist corporate boards in their engagement of qualified, board-ready women. It also supports initiatives to build a pipeline of women in executive and non-executive roles. The 30% supports sustainable business-led voluntary change to improve the current gender imbalance on Malaysian corporate boards.
42 PLATINUM PARTNERS :
SUPPORTING PARTNER : CRM PARTNER :
SEBSEAM-M PARTNERS : EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EUMCCI) Suite 10.01, Level 10, Menara Atlan, 161B Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: +603 2162 6298 Fax: +603 2162 6198
E-mail: [email protected] www.eumcci.com