The recently released Global Gender Gap 2023 report by the World Economic Forum ranks Malaysia 102nd among 146 countries assessed.
Among Asean countries, Malaysia is ahead of only Myanmar, a country that has been wreaked with internal conflict for decades.
The others are way ahead of Malaysia, with the Philippines among the world’s top 20. It came in at 16th position, followed by Singapore at 49, Laos at 54, Vietnam at 72, Thailand at 74 and Indonesia at 87, Cambodia at 92 and Brunei at 96. Myanmar came in at 123rd position.
There is little comfort in knowing that Malaysia rose a rung from 103rd last year at the global level. It has been stuck in its current position as the second worst performer in Asean for five years now.
Data from the department of statistics Malaysia on socio-economic gender parity only confirms the deep-seated stereotypes in the Malaysian labour force.
Of the 6.45 million individuals in the formal workforce, 3.28 million or 55.5% are men and 2.87 million or 44.5% are women.
Women also trail in earning capacity. They took home an average of RM 2,545 per month compared with RM 2,664 for men in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1 2023).
Women’s groups see it as a “stark reflection” of what they term as the “longstanding culture of under-valuing women’s labour and systemic denial of access to higher paying jobs”.
Amanda Shweeta Louis, information communication officer at All Women’s Action Society (AWAM), said the government must focus on women in sectors where wages are low by introducing policies that promote equality and abolish skewed resource allocation to realise a change.
“We must challenge the inherent exploitation of women’s labour within the capitalist system. I hope the government strives to ensure the country moves towards creating an economy that prioritises equitable distribution, gender equality, and the well-being of workers,” she told FMT Business.
Monash University Malaysia economist Niaz Asadullah cited occupational segregation and social stereotypes about women as the root cause of such disparity.
For instance, he said, women have been forced to accept jobs supposedly compatible with their social roles even though the pay is lower.
“My own research shows that local curriculum textbooks don’t do enough to educate adolescents about gender equality at work,” he told FMT Business.
“For instance, the Form 4 English textbook shows an unusually high (85%) female representation in domestic or informal roles compared to male representation.”
Niaz said unequal compensation for women would also mean lower Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings for them, leading to a higher incidence of old-age poverty among women.
He pointed out that non-functional gender employment policies have been key to the slow progress in achieving gender equality in the workforce.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have an equal employment opportunity legislation, let alone a comprehensive pay equity law,” he said.
“(In) official documents such as the 12th Malaysia Plan, (we) claim to remain committed to gender equality, but the reality is that we’ve yet to approve the Gender Equality Act drafted several years ago.”
Adelina Zulkifli of Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) said although Malaysia is said to have attained gender parity in education, women remain underemployed and they work in jobs that pay far below their skills set.
“Policymakers must promote financial literacy and upskilling programmes for women left out of the formal sector. Above all it must adopt more holistic gender policies,” she told FMT Business.
Adelina said the government should aim to craft better and more inclusive policies to tackle poverty affecting women and review existing discriminatory work practices.
“At the same time, employers need to offer infrastructural support to women employees such as childcare and work flexibility for mothers,” she added.