Is Gender Progress Slowing Down?
2023 has witnessed big wins in moving the needle for gender equality on both the national and global stage. Some of the most notable achievements in Malaysia this year was achieving the 30% target for women on boards on the Top 100 PLC’s. This was made possible due to Bursa enforcing a mandatory 1 woman per board requirement, alongside strong advocacy work from various stakeholders that board-ready women are given the opportunity to serve as board directors. Globally, renowned economic historian Claudia Goldin was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for her research in the examining women's work throughout history.
So, how much progress have we really made? According to UN Women’s report titled The Gender Snapshot 2023, no country globally has met any of the Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality targets. Despite being at the halfway point towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs), we are still falling short on our promise to achieve gender equality.
The report attributes the slow pace of progress to systemic biases against women, evident in various forms such as restricted access to sexual and reproductive health care, inadequate political representation, economic disparities, and insufficient legal safeguards.
Despite some changes, the gender gap in power and leadership remains a major obstacle to gender equality. Target 5.5 of SDG 5 – ensuring women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all decision-making levels – remains unfulfilled.
Globally, women hold just:
Moreover, for senior management in mid-market businesses, only 32.4% of positions are now held by women (Grant Thornton, 2023). This represents an increase of just half a percentage point (pp) since 2022 and only 13pp since the research was first undertaken in 2004.
The current trajectory indicates that women's global representation in management will only reach 30% by 2050.
Senior Leadership in Malaysia
Despite a shift in work practices due to COVID-19, Malaysia has seen minimal progress in women’s representation at senior leadership levels.
According to the latest report from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), women remain significantly underrepresented in leadership positions in Malaysia, with only 24.6% of legislators, senior officials, and managers being female. Shockingly, the report also revealed that for every RM100 earned by a man in Malaysia, a woman on average receives only RM66.67.?
Grant Thornton's 2023 International Business Report (IBR) found that senior management positions held by women in Malaysia remain unchanged from 2022, at 40%. However, Malaysian businesses are prioritizing succession planning initiatives to advance more women into senior leadership positions, including programs for mentoring, coaching, and accommodating individual working styles and needs
Silvia Tan, the Partner of Risk Management and Quality at Grant Thornton Malaysia, urged business entities in Malaysia to prioritize developing more linear progressions to leadership and across recruitment, promotions, and performance. Offering transparency and equal opportunity in leadership roles, from top to bottom, from recruitment to performance reviews, is crucial to break the glass ceiling.?
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Unpaid Care and Domestic Work
Unpaid care work is often shouldered disproportionately on women and girls. This invisible labor, encompassing tasks like childcare, eldercare, and household chores, ensures the well-being of our communities but is often undervalued.
Globally, women spend 2.8 more hours than men on unpaid care and domestic work. Similarly in Malaysia, women experience the double shift by having to spend more time on unpaid care work despite contributing equal hours in paid work outside the home. UN Women estimates that by 2050, women will still be spending 9.5% more time or 2.3 more hours per day on unpaid care work than men.?
Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, Malaysia’s Women, Family and Community Development Minister, asserts that care work is the foundation of the country’s economic development and socio-economic structure. To achieve Malaysia’s 60% female workforce target, she argues for addressing and redistributing the unequal burden of care work as well as recognising its long-standing neglect, which has been a blind spot that has spanned generations.?
What's Next?
To substantially accelerate progress towards gender equality by 2030, UN Women outlined three concrete actions:
2023 has been a fruitful year with strong voices across industries pledging to work towards a more inclusive society. However, the numbers show that there is so much more work to be done. Change does not happen overnight and progress is still progress– no matter the pace. As we move into 2024, we hope you will continue running this marathon alongside us and a wider community who share the same dream of a better world, one step at a time.
What LeadWomen is doing
The Emerging Women Leaders (EWL) Program creates opportunities for aspiring and first-time female managers to refine their leadership capabilities. Guided by a team of experienced trainers, facilitators and coaches, participants will navigate each module with expert support and personalized feedback. EWL 2023 is a HRDC Claimable programme and will commence January 30 2024.
For more information, contact Hajar at [email protected] or head on to our website to browse all our available programmes: https://www.lead-women.com/women-leadership/
? For more insights and updates on gender equality, read our articles here.
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