A recent conference organised by the Good Governance and Gender Equality Society (3GS), a Penang-based NGO, examined the mainstreaming of gender issues. Despite great strides made in granting women equal opportunities, legal efforts to close the gender gap have hardly made a dent in our persistently patriarchal society.
Sticky Floor, Glass Ceiling
Achieving gender parity in Malaysia seems to be a far-off goal for a conservative Asian society which has traditionally espoused a “men over women” mindset. Societal expectations of women have remained stubbornly stereotypical despite increasing latitude granted to women in all fields.
Whilst women comprise 62.3% of undergraduate degree holders in Malaysia, female labour force participation only stands at 45.7%. Due to the shortage of affordable care facilities, many women quit working post-marriage or after childbirth. Those choosing to return to work are not exempted from the traditional role of being primary caretakers of families, notes Loh Cheng Kooi, executive director of the Women’s Center for Change (WCC). Household duties are often assigned by default to women on the basis of their gender, making it a struggle for women to claim their share of the Malaysian dream and be placed on an equal footing as their male counterparts. The twin goals of achieving professional success as well as caring for their family seem to be mutually exclusive, and balance is as elusive as the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
The bulk of female workers are concentrated in low or semi-skilled positions in the manufacturing and services sectors. With “informalisation” and “casualisation” becoming a workforce trend, many women have an unstable income and do not enjoy the benefits granted to formal workers. Moreover, the glass ceiling phenomenon still rings true as women continue to earn, on the average, less than men. They are less likely to be considered for promotion than their male counterparts, despite being equally, if not more qualified. Just 6.9% of the upper echelon of the public sector are made up of women. Perhaps the best example underscoring the masculine nature of the workforce is that while 71% of school teachers are female, only eight per cent of schoolmasters are female.
