Thursday August 13, 2009
Upping the numbers
By WONG LI ZA
Women need to increase their participation in both government and private sectors.
WOMEN hold up half the sky, or so goes a famous Chinese saying but in reality, the facts tell a different story.
The rate of women participation in the workforce in 2008 was 46% or about four million women. Neighbouring countries like Singapore and Brunei have higher women participation rates at 60% and 61% respectively.
Effective January 2007, the launching grants for employers in the public sector to set up childcare centre at the workplace was increased from RM50,000 to RM80,000. The number of women holding decision-making positions is even less encouraging. In 2004, there were 10% of women sitting on the board of directors and this fell to 6% in 2008. In Parliament, only 10% of MPs are women, while in the Senate, the percentage of women senators has decreased from 33% in 2004 to 30% this year.
But things could be looking up. Recently, Sabah senator Datuk Armani Mahiruddin made history as the first woman in the country to be appointed Senate Deputy Speaker.
“The profile of the Malaysian women workforce has improved over the last few decades. Women have benefited substantially from the drive to improve educational standards and qualifications in the country. They enjoy equal treatment and opportunities at the workplace,” said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Sharizat Abdul Jalil during a recent interview.
According to the latest figures by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, the number of women holding top management positions in the public sector have increased from 20% in 2004 to 23% in 2008.
In the private sector, the number of women holding positions of general manager, president or CEO in companies increased from 13% in 2004 to 26% in 2008.
“Women have almost always proliferated the middle and technical sectors. I dare say women have been powering the economy of the nation,” she added.
Since 2003, the Ministry has organised a Women’s Summit in conjunction with National Women’s Day on Aug 25. It serves as a platform for women to voice work-related concerns and issues directly to the Minister.
This year, participants will also be given the chance to have a dialogue session with Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Certainly, women have come a long way in terms of achieving equality in the workplace, compared with five years ago.
“I would say, everything considered, it has been a quantum leap. A lot of people tell me there’s no discrimination against women at the workplace. Women are everywhere. For instance, there are many women officers in the Treasury,” said Shahrizat. Women in the public sector have equal chances to enjoy the same pay, perks and promotion opportunities as men, she stressed.
“It is not discrimination against women that deprives them of such things, but other restraining factors and perceptions.”
Sharizat said that as a politician, she has never felt any form of discrimination.
“It’s about whether I have the tenacity, resilience and the strategic planning. If a woman doesn’t go far, she must first ask herself if she has equipped herself with the necessary skills and have a never-give-up attitude, just like a man would.”
She said usually, women tend to push themselves to excel in all areas be it at home or at work. “The woman herself must want to achieve and go all the way,” she advised.
However, in the political and private sectors, she acknowledged that the participation of women could be better.
“The corporate sector especially, is not well-represented and not emulating the public sector fast enough, even though there are a lot of very capable and deserving women out there.
“We are not interested in tokenism any more,” said Sharizat firmly. “It’s got to be the real thing because the Government has developed our own home-grown talents and if women want to power the economy, then they must be given the opportunity.”
She added that 65% of undergraduates in universities are females but after graduating, a big portion do not join the workforce due to various reasons such as choosing to settle down and start a family instead.
This year, the theme of the 2009 Women’s Summit is Can Women Turn Adversity Into Opportunity?
Sharizat quoted English author William Hazlitt who said: “Prosperity is a great teacher, adversity a greater (one).”
“A positive attitude is crucial to succeed in life. With the global economic meltdown, we felt that we needed to address this issue. We want to look at adversity in a very positive way. Adversity is a powerful force for us to re-invent and recreate,” she said.
“Women have had to struggle for equal pay, perks and opportunities for a long time. Many have used adversity to their advantage and reached the highest levels of decision-making. I would like to think that women are naturally resilient and optimistic. You don’t see mothers giving up (on their family) during bad times.”
The Women’s Summit is into its seventh year and some parties feel that there is a lack of follow up or worse, not much is achieved. Sharizat begs to differ.
“Not all resolutions raised at the Summit will be relevant and pertinent to be brought up to the Cabinet. A number of policies have been formulated and adopted by the Government to address the issues of women at work to promote work-life balance. One of them is the home office concept,” she said. The concept (working from home) was adopted in 2004.
Another example, she said, was the policy of having at least 30% women in decision-making positions in the public sector, adopted in the same year. With assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Ministry has prepared a strategic action plan to be approved and implemented this year to fast-track women into decision-making levels in all sectors, including politics.
Securing higher women participation is one of the key things Sharizat wants to push for in her position as Minister.
“There are many obstacles to a woman’s career success in all sectors, particularly in politics. These include the glass ceiling, achieving work-life balance and the “invisible women”, namely those who are productive but not recognised and therefore not in line for promotion.”
She felt that there is no reason why women should not be getting top positions.
“First of all, there are very few positions at the top, and only those who are resilient and have the extra edge will get there. The government is providing the environments to facilitate that to happen. Opportunities need to be given to capable women to excel, and women also need to create their own opportunities and networking,” she said.
One of the more tangible outcomes of the Women’s Summit is the increase in unpaid child care leave for government servants.
In 2007, the Public Services Department increased the period of unpaid child care leave from three months to a maximum of five years.
Effective January 2007, the launching grants for employers in the public sector to set up child care centres at the workplace was also increased from RM50,000 to RM80,000. In addition, a monthly subsidy of RM180 per child was given to parents who were public servants with monthly household incomes of less than RM2,000 in 2007. (From January 2009, the ceiling of household income was increased to RM3,000.)
Sharizat added that the Ministry also encouraged housewives to set up home-based childcare services by providing an initial allocation of RM10mil to NGOs to train the housewives. “These home-based services will provide job opportunities for the housewives and at the same time, enable more women to join the workforce,” she said.
The Women’s Summit is also a useful avenue for networking among working women.
“It is a touchpoint for professional women in the corporate sector and the programme enables me to meet them and tap their brains.
“At the Summit, we have always invited inspirational women to talk about their journey to success. This year, we hope that participants will take away from the Summit, practical and positive approaches to dealing with adversity.”
■ For Summit information, log on to thewomenssummit.org or call 03-7954 7030.
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