gender equality at the workplace: malaysia's stance and

International Journal of Innovation and Business Strategy (IJIBS)/ Vol. 14, No. 2, June 2020

56

Gender Equality at the Workplace: Malaysia's Stance

and Prevailing Challenges

Noraliza Jalal, Reena Baskaran, Nirosha Tanga Rajoo, Sharmini Nair Prathaban, Prasath Ambalagan

Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bharu, Johor,

Malaysia

Received 19 March 2020

Revised 18 May 2020

Accepted 20 May 2020

Abstract: To explore common aspects discussed by literature studies on gender equality in the

workplace. A meta-analysis was conducted by reviewing various resources such as journals and

articles. This research was using secondary data as their primary source, which is around 25 articles

regarding gender equality in the workplace. Women are the most affected group of the community

regarding this gender equality in the workplace as women were distinguished as the group of people

who lacks the technical and managerial skills which prevent them from achieving success in their

work. The government should take more measurements in order to motivate the employer to recruit

more female workers into their workplace and practice gender equality habits in the management.

Keywords: Gender equality, workplace, women, working mothers, challenges

Paper type: Research paper

1. Introduction

1957, Malaysia's independence mark the start of remarkable improvement in poverty reduction,

human development, and construction of its economic pillars. Employment acted as the primary

household income source and countable as productive participation in the country's economy and

society. Healthy employment is imperative in building and sustaining an economy as it evolves from

traditional to a modern economy, and female employment followed economic structural changes

from its reliance on agriculture to rising importance on industry and services (Ministry of Women,


57

2007). The landscape of employment in Malaysia had shifted over time by women's involvement in

the workforce and foreign workers, both challenging but highly impacted the economy.

Gender equality has been described as the idea that every individual is able to develop their

personal capabilities and make choices without restrictions as a result of strict gender roles; and

differing attitudes, expectations and desires of men and women are equally recognized, respected and

favored (Olgiati and Shapiro, 2002). The notion of gender equality has become the center of

attention among the public and received significant devotion worldwide in recent decades,

particularly in female workforce participation, education, and health. Nevertheless, arguments

constantly dominated by two truisms: the fortunes of women at work in the twentieth century have

changed considerably and still slightly short of those enjoyed by men (Ruth Eikhof, 2012). Fairness

of treatment on gender basis in terms of rights, privileges, responsibilities, and incentives concisely

termed gender equity often being questioned. The absence of gender participation barriers in the

economy, politics, and society has become the stumbling block ensuring equal opportunities for both

women and men.

Countries, including Malaysia, allocate substantial attention to the narrow gender gap mainly

contributed by women's high barriers to enter the labor force. Since 2004, Ministry of Women,

Family, and Community Development (MWFCD) and United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP) applied Malaysia's Gender Gap Index (MGGI) as a tool to measure the effectiveness of

government and non-governmental organization interventions which aimed to integrate women into

diverse development processes and advocacy purposes while monitoring gender disparities trend.

Table 1. East Asia and the Pacific gender gap index, 2020

Country Rank Score

Regional Global

New Zealand 1 6 0.799

Philippines 2 16 0.781

Lao PDR 3 43 0.731

Australia 4 44 0.731

Singapore 5 54 0.724

Thailand 6 75 0.708

Mongolia 7 79 0.706

Indonesia 8 85 0.700

Vietnam 9 87 0.700

Cambodia 10 89 0.694

Brunei Darussalam 11 95 0.686

Fiji 12 103 0.678

Malaysia 13 104 0.677

China 14 106 0.676

Korea, Rep. 15 108 0.672

Myanmar 16 114 0.665

Timor-Leste 17 117 0.662


58

Japan 18 121 0.652

Vanuatu 19 126 0.638

Papua New Guinea 20 127 0.635

Source: (World Economic Forum, 2019)

According to the Gender Gap Index, Malaysia was at 13th rank among East Asia and the Pacific

region. Meanwhile, globally, Malaysia stands at 104th among 153 countries. Surprisingly, Iceland,

Norway, Finland, Sweden, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, Rwanda, and Germany were

ranked in the top ten. Mexico, Madagascar, Spain, Cape Verde, and the Slovak Republic

domineering highest improvement by 25, 22, 21, 20 and 20 respectively by ranks. While in

comparison, Malaysia ranking dropped by 3 places from the previous year.

Despite a drop in the world ranking, Malaysia's Economic Report conveyed a promising pattern of

an annual increase in the female labor force participation rate (LFPR). Rapid economic growth,

better economic incentives in employment and policies, ideal years of schooling, easy access for

family planning services, better maternal and child care quality, as well as the rise in average age at

marriage, were found contributed to the higher rate of LFPR in Malaysia (Abu Bakar and Abdullah,

2007).

Table 2. Labor force participation rates by gender, 2010 – 2019

Gender 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Male 79.3 79.7 80.5 81.0 80.6 80.6 80.2 80.1 80.4 80.8

Female 46.8 48.0 49.5 52.6 53.7 54.1 54.3 54.7 55.2 55.6

Total 63.7 64.5 65.6 67.3 67.6 67.9 67.7 68.0 68.3 68.7

Source: Department of Statistics Malaysia Official Portal

Department of Statistics Malaysia reported that women's participation in the labor force rose

steadily from 46.8 percent in 2010 to 55.6 percent in 2019. In contrast, male LFPR experiencing

unsteady growth and slowly progressing from 79.3 percent in 2010 improved to 80.8 percent by

2019.


59

Source: Department of Statistics Malaysia Official Portal

Female LFPR increased by 7.8 percent since 1990 from 47.8 percent 55.6 percent in 2019.

Compared to a decrease of 4.5 percent of male LFPR from 85.3 percent to 80.8 percent within a

similar time frame, it reflects the effectiveness of Malaysia's effort to optimistically narrow gender

gaps. Malaysia’s population in 2019 were at 32,581,400 with 16,830,600 male and 15,750,800

females. While a million difference, male LFPR stays steadily above 80 percent far from near female

LFPR with 25.2 percent difference to catch up and remains relatively large by countries comparison.

This meta-analysis aims to respond to the following questions:

• How organization able to embarks on ensuring gender equality;

• What are the common approaches implemented to promote gender equality; and

• What are the possible steps to undertake to narrow the gap?

A. Literature search strategy

This meta-analysis or systematic review was developed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for

Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) (Moher et al., 2009) guidelines completed in

April 2020. A Boolean inclusive search on electronic databases was conducted: Emerald, Elsevier,

Sage, ResearchGate, Human Science Press, Routledge, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. The

reference lists then further searched for additional explanations.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Figure 1: Labor force participation rates by gender, 1990-2019

Male Female


60

B. Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Initial screening on titles and abstracts was conducted on all studies retrieved and further analyses to

identify and remove any duplication and non-relevant studies. Inclusion criteria include various

methods of study from qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method pertaining to gender equality.

Nevertheless, the review does not specify any geographical focus, and time-frame outline, thus draws

exclusion.


61

2. Literature Review

Author(s)

and Year

Title Country Study Objective(s) Type of Study Key Findings

(Ruth

Eikhof,

2012)

A Double-

Edge Sword:

Twenty-First

Century

Workplace

Trends and

Gender

Equality

Not specified To uncover the secret gender

implications of increasing

information - seeking, ICT, and

work-life balance policies.

Systematic

empirical

synthesize.

Knowledge work, ICT, and work-

life balance policies improved

temporal and geographical work

flexibility; thus, facilitate women

participation and enhance gender

equality.

(Olgiati

and

Shapiro,

2002)

Promoting

Gender

Equality in

the

Workplace

European

Union

To identify and define

Corporate Equality.

To assess its influence on

gender equality.

To devise guidelines intended to

enhance workplace gender

equality.

Systematic review

of case study

research.

Gender equity should be

specifically implemented in the

strategic planning process of a

company.

(Lokshin

and Fong,

2006)

Women's

Labour Force

Participation

and Child

Care in

Romania

Romania To identify the effects of the

child care level, the wages of

mothers and the household

characteristics of household

actions regarding child care and

maternal employment

Qualitative:

Structured

questionnaire and

in-depth interviews.

Maternal commitment to

becoming employed and use

external child care extremely price

sensitive.


62

Author(s)

and Year


(Boushey

and

Wright,

2004)

Working

Mom and

Child Care

Washington To determine factors

influencing preferable choices

of child care arrangement

among working mothers.

Mixed method:

Structured

questionnaire and

significance test.

Parental care or relative care is the

most favorable source of child

care as it is less expensive,

especially for low-income

mothers.

State child care assistance

minimizes obstacles for working

mothers.

(Del Boca

et al., 2005)

Child Care

Choices by

Working

Mothers: The

Case of Italy

Italy To explore the determinants of

child care use among families

with dual employees.

Mixed method:

ISTAT Multiscopo

and survey.

Public policies and public

childcare accessibility influence

its demand.

The increase in the cost of public

childcare decreases public and

private childcare, which suggests a

change to informal childcare.

(Aminudin

and

Abdullah,

2009)

Gender

differences in

Career

Advancement

: A

preliminary

Study in R&D

organization

in Malaysia

Malaysia To study the progress of a

career between different gender

in an R & D department in a

multi-national company.

Quantitative

structured:

Interview between

male and female

researchers.

Women have the lowest chances

to join the research and

development department or career

prospects.


63

Author(s)

and Year


(Ismail and

Jajri, 2012)

Gender Wage

Differentials

and

Discriminatio

n in

Malaysian

Labor Market

Malaysia To study the effect of gender on

wages in the labor market.

Quantitative

structured: Surveys

with 2759 males

and 1776 female

workers.

Results show that different gender

with different education

backgrounds, races, cultures, and

regions do affect the wages that

are proposed in the market.

(Perumal

and

Dastane,

2017)

Challenges to

Break

Corporate

Glass Ceiling:

What

Malaysian IT

Women

Employees

Perceive?

Malaysia To study the factors that affect

women's career development in

the IT department.

Quantitative

research:

Questionnaires

distributed among

150 workers in

Cyberjaya,

Malaysia.

The gender gap is one of the

factors that do affect career

advancement for women society in

the IT department.

(Narayanan

and

Selvanathan

, 2017)

Challenges of

Women

Empowerment

in a Private

Organization

in Malaysia

Malaysia To identify and study the

challenges by women to

develop their career progress in

private organizations.

Mixed-method:

Survey, interviews,

and secondary data.

Women face a strong gender

inequality especially in terms of

their promotions, pay, benefits and

also tasks that being allocated for

them in the workplace

(Hutchings,

2000)

Cultural

Norms and

Gender

Malaysia To study the gap in gender

equality in Japanese and

Australian oriented public

Qualitative: Semi-

structured

interviews with 12

The norms and cultural beliefs still

preventing the application of

gender equality, where women are


64

Author(s)

and Year


Inequality in

Malaysia

companies. different

Multinational

companies in

Malaysia.

still not given a chance to perform

in a high managerial position such

as managers.

(Fui and

Lim, 2019)

Women Left

Behind?

Closing the

Gender Gap in

Malaysia

Malaysia To study the gap in female

involvement in Malaysia's

economy.

Systematic review

of case study

research.

Government is trying to improve

every year in providing chances to

women to excel in various fields

of job

(Wei, 2015) Workplace

Gender

Equality: An

Exploratory

Study

Malaysia To research gender equality in

the workplace in terms of

benefits, promotion, pay, and

many others.

Mixed-method:

Survey and

questionnaires.

There is a strong relationship

between those different genders

factors and the benefits that

obtained by the workers

(Rahman et

al., 2019)

Discrimination

against women

in the

workplace:

Hotel Dress

Code

Malaysia To research the impact of

gender and the standard hotel

dress code.

Qualitative

structure in-depth

interviews with the

hotel's staff.

Practices are going on among hotel

staffs where they wear different

dress codes for different genders

and also different races, too, with

different levels of seniority in the

workplace.

(Kadiresan

et al., 2015)

Workplace

Gender

Segregation: A

Study from the

Malaysia To study the factor that affects

gender segregation in the

workplace.

Quantitative

structured Close-

ended

questionnaires.

The factors that affect the

segregation of gender in the

workplace mostly are the culture,

occupations, religions, and the


65

Author(s)

and Year


Students'

Perspectives

of Private

Higher

Learning

Institutions in

Klang Valley,

Malaysia

salary that is paid for the work.

(Ler The

Hui, 2014)

A study on the

barriers to

Malaysians

Women's

career

advancement

Malaysia To study and evaluate the

challenges that have been

facing by women in Malaysia's

industry.

Convenience

sampling method:

150 surveys and

questionnaires

distributed from

local respondents.

Women's education level, society's

culture, family work-life balance

factors do affect progress in

Malaysian's women career effect.

(Qinfen,

2017)

Female Labor

Force

Participation

in Malaysia:

Time-Series

Evidence

Malaysia To identify the factors that

affect the participation rate of

women in the labor force by

literature review.

To determine the factors

influencing the participation

rate of women in the labor force

in Malaysia.

To find the factor consequences

for policymakers in Malaysia.

Quantitative: Time

series analysis.

The rate of education and fertility

among female labor force

respondents seems statistically

irrelevant and recommends that, in

the future, growth in female labor

force participants is linked with an

increase in GDP and levels of

education and a decrease in

fertility rates.


66

Author(s)

and Year


(Schofield

and

Goodwin,

2005)

Gender

Politics and

Public Policy

Making:

Prospects for

Advancing

Gender

Equality

Australia To analyze gender issues in

public policy and institutions of

gender equality.

Qualitative: Semi-

structured

interviews.

Gender differences in

policymaking are not carried out

in a structured and systematic way

that stifles objections and

possibilities for reform. Gendered

policy-making activities have

various mechanisms that reflect

both possibilities and obstacles to

promoting gender equity in policy-

making.

(Abu Bakar

and

Abdullah,

2007)

Labor Force

Participation

of Women in

Malaysia

Malaysia To assess women's participation

in the Malaysian labor force.

Quantitative:

Econometric

analysis.

They were increasing labor force

participation rates for women,

gains in productive activities for

women, and their strengthened

economic standing and increased

participation in education.

(Grosser

and Moon,

2008)

Developments

in company

reporting on

workplace

gender

equality? A

corporate

social

responsibility

United

Kingdom To investigate the coverage of

workplace gender equality

among UK businesses claiming

best practice.

Mixed method:

Quantitative and

qualitative.

Recorded coverage of a range of

performance details on gender

issues outside the standard profile

of the workplace, none of which

has been reported in earlier

research. Thus, despite the lack of

regulation, it indicates

considerable progress. Gender

mainstreaming practices have not


67

Author(s)

and Year


perspective advanced far in the reporting of

corporate human capital.

(Wu and

Cheng,

2016)

Gender

equality in the

workplace:

The effect of

gender

equality on

productivity

growth among

the Chilean

manufacturers

Chile To analyze Chilean producing

companies from 2001 to 2007.

To investigate whether gender

equality is leading to increased

productivity.

To study gender equality among

different types of employees

and their impacts on promoting

productivity as a company

grows.

Empirically study

the semi-parametric

method.

A more equalized distributed

workforce among female and male

employees contributes to faster

productivity growth significantly.

High-skill employees are the

leading force in small businesses,

while big companies are all

ordinary-level employees respond

consistently.

(Lynette C.,

2015)

Part-time

work, work-

life balance,

and gender

equality

Europe To exam the effects of part-time

work on work-life balance and

its potential negativity to gender

equality.

To re-comment progress in part-

time quality jobs and gender

equity at European companies.

In-depth study

Interviews with

organizations.

Policy level implemented at the

EU level shows little improvement

as many well-qualified women

compromise by taking up under-

valued part-time jobs to sustain

their families.

Clearly shows gender equality still

has to go a long way, as the

traditional mentality of

responsibility towards childcare.


68

Author(s)

and Year


(Musa N.

and Husin

A., 2019)

Towards

gender

equality in

Malaysia:

Legal and

policy

perspectives

Malaysia To analyze the effort and steps

taken by the federal and state

governments of Malaysia in

gender equality.

To address the issue of whether

Malaysia is ready for the

Gender Equality Bill.

Review of Federal

Constitution and

State Policies.

There is

a need to monitor employers and

report cases of gender-

discriminatory acts.

The passing Gender Equality Law

in Malaysia is based on the court's

decision in view of 2 national

cases.

As Malaysia's constitution and

national religion supports gender

equality, a comprehensive plan of

action has to be made.

(Cavero-

Rubio J.,

Collazo-

Mazon A.

and

Amoros-

Martinez

A., 2019)

Public

recognition of

gender

equality in the

workplace and

its influence

on firms'

performance

Spain To determine whether selected

governmental organizations in

Spain can promote competitive

advantage and bring positive

returns in its financial

performance by adapting gender

equality.

Mixed method: Quantitative and

qualitative.

The study shows financial

performance and work efficiency

improved by adapting gender

equality in the workplace.

Managers of firms agree that

institutional recognition of

equality results in a positive

impact on the company's external

reputation and internal efficiency.

(Veluti S.,

2008)

Promotion of

gender

Italy To examine gender equality

mainstreaming in collective

Review of

Legislative laws

Female employment in Italy still

low despite collective bargaining


69

Author(s)

and Year


equality at the

workplace:

Gender

mainstreaming

and collective

bargaining in

Italy

bargaining amongst the

industrial relations system in

Italy.

and Internal

policies of trade

unions.

due to traditional and patriarchal

systems.

Although efforts are being

underway to bridge the gap in

gender equality, it has to be in a

systematic reform involving

workplace democracy and

statutory demands imposed on all

public organizations.

(Elwer S.,

Harryson L.

Bolin M.

and

Hammerstr

om A.,

2013)

Patterns of

gender

equality at

workplaces

and

psychological

distress

Sweden To identify patterns and reasons

associated with gender equality

in mental health.

To examine work conditions for

women and men and its relation

to psychological health

outcomes.

Cluster Analysis

using the mixed

method: Quantitative and

qualitative.

Study shows that only women

succumbed to psychological

distress due to disadvantaged

situations and unfair treatment as

compared to men.

Mental health among women and

men can be improved if there is

gender equality in the workplace.

Therefore, health policies should

also consider gender equality as a

social determinant of health.


70

3. Methodology

A. Prisma flow diagram

IDE

NT

IFIC

AT

ION

Records identified through

database searching

(n=49)

Additional records identified

through other sources

(n =4)

Records after duplicates removed (n=53)

SC

RE

EN

ING

Articles screened based on title

and abstract relevance

(n=47)

Articles excluded based on title

and abstract relevance

(n=6)

EL

IGIB

ILIT

Y

Full-text articles were assessed

for eligibility

(n=29)

Full-text articles excluded

(n=6)

List

Opinion pieces: (n=1)

Poor quality: (n=3)

INC

LU

DE

D

Total number of studies included in

synthesis (n=25)

Source: (Moher et al., 2009)


71

4. Analysis

A. Cost of childcare, working mothers and household poverty

From the systematic review done in this study with the selected number of journals covering various

aspects of gender equality in the workplace, 45 percent of the studies cover an aspect of working

mothers, cost of childcare, and household responsibility. In the Malaysian context, the National

Education Policy is viewed as the basis of gender equality as education is provided equally to boys and

girls of all backgrounds. The Tenth Malaysia Plan Review (2011-2015) indicated that there are 9

percent and 2 percent of the rise in women's workforce participation and positions held in higher

management, respectively (Musa and Husin, 2019).

This indirectly, throughout post-independence, Malaysia has granted women to have access to their

own career paths and choices in their area of expertise professionally. Consequently, the cycle of life

keeps up with the so-called weaker gender when she marries and has children of her own, and

eventually, a need arises to establish a support system (Musa and Husin, 2019). The final position as a

mother, wife and career woman in Malaysian society is admired. However, it comes with a price

because upbringing and child careers deemed to be the responsibility of the mother, as traditional and

patriarchal system dominates the Malaysian society. The estimated cost of raising a child in 2018 is

seen in Figure 2 and is projected to rise in the coming years. (Ewer, Harryson and Hammerstrom, 2013)

has indicated that only women succumbed to psychological distress due to disadvantaged situations as

compared to men at the workplace.

The maternal decision of whether to be employed is highly sensitive according to the price range of

child care where, a decrease in cost will trigger a rise of numbers for working mothers and eventually

forces poverty in some households diminished (Lokshin and Fong, 2006). Malaysia's female LFPR

highly dominated by age group between 25 – 34 with 73.0 percent, followed by 35 – 44 and 45 – 54

with 67.6 percent and 62.0 percent, respectively. Nevertheless, males still surpassed women in all age

groups. Therefore, child care quality, location, flexibility, and affordability has become a critical issue

among women age between 25 to 44 (Boushey and Wright, 2004). Child care expenses in Washington

consumes 18.4 percent of household income among low-income mothers compared to high-income

mothers, with only 6.1 percent (Boushey and Wright, 2004). As the cost of public or private childcare

rises, working mothers continue to rely more on informal care than on alternative forms of formal

market care. (Del Boca et al., 2005).

Therefore, the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development implements various

policies and infrastructure to assist career women with multiple roles, for example, work from home

policy, flexible working hours, in-office nursery, and breastfeeding facilities at the workplace to ease

the cost of childcare. These efforts have proven to enhance living quality among working mothers and

even improving their performance at work if gender equality is adapted (Cavero-Rubio et al., 2019)


72

Figure 2. The estimated cost of raising a child in Malaysia, updated in December 2018.

Source: The Edge Malaysia Weekly

B. Government policies and support system

Since gaining independence in 1957, the government of Malaysia has always supported and respected

women's right to contribute to the workforce which will eventually churn positive returns to the

country's economic wellbeing, thus believing that women's human and financial resources can be

achieved optimally (Gender Budgeting in Malaysia, 2005). However, discreetly, in many professions

nationwide, women are subjected to discriminatory actions by their employers and are merely victims of

the situation. Government policies and support systems in Malaysia on matters relating to gender

equality have only surfaced in recent decades post-independence. The Ministry of Women, Family and

Community Development consistently make sure gender elements in Malaysia's national policies are

considered to ensure non-discriminant governance in order to shape its economy and raise the living

standards of its citizens (Fui and Lim, 2019).

From the 25 reviews on the journals acquired from all over the world in this meta-analysis, most

countries implement policies, law enforcement, and passing bills to bridge the gap in gender equality. In

retrospect, the government, through its appointed ministry, the Ministry of Women, Family, and

Community Development strives to protect, enhance, and be the voice of women in various sectors.

According to the Constitution of Malaysia, under the Ninth Schedule, laws and policies on the

protection of women are mandated to federal and state governments (Musa and Husin, 2019). However,

our country's policymakers must view strategies and policies implemented in exemplary countries such

as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, where they have come a long way in voicing

and demanding rights for women in the workplace. For example, in the US during the Obama

administration has shown to encourage women's economic and political leadership through the creation

of the White House Council on Women and Girls. The United Kingdom has tabled its acts on gender

equality with the UK Equality Act 2010 and modifying the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 by

promoting equal opportunities between men and women in the labor force. In Australia, there are efforts

to advance gender equality in public policy making because of the importance of equal representation in

power and authority (Schofield and Goodwin, 2005).

To date, Malaysia has its own National Women Policy, National Women Action Plan 2009, and

Gender Equality Bill 2017, all of which promote gender equality from an Islamic standpoint (Musa and

Husin, 2019) and prevail challenges posed by the community. In addition, the Gender Equality Bill

2017, the establishment of Gender Equality Commission is to make sure the mainstreaming of gender

equality will be able to bridge the gap between commitments made at international level and the reality

of women in Malaysia, in line with Malaysia's commitment to Convention on the Elimination of


73

Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Commission also offers advice, guidance, and support

to both women and organizations on equal opportunities and rights in the workplace environment. This

clearly shows that Malaysia's stance in gender equality, on the whole, can be applauded, although more

comprehensive effort plans and studies need to be conducted. Nevertheless, all governmental policies

and support system must fundamentally abide by the Malaysian constitution that builds and protects the

Malaysian society.

C. Labor force participation

Human resources are the key driver for economic growth, social development, and technical progress.

In Malaysia, there is a study previously that the rate of involvement of women in the industry is lower

than males (Fui and Lim, 2019). In modern living, women's labor market participation contributes to the

growth economy. The amount of women's participation in the labor force slowly increases by years (Fui

and Lim, 2019). Still, Qinfen (2017) revealed that high rates of female labor force participation increase

workforce productivity, reduce inequalities, and help overall socio-economic development. However,

women's involvement in the labor market varies widely between countries, reflecting inequalities in

economic growth, parental education, child mortality, wage rates, and other support (Chaudhary and

Verick, 2014).

The number of females in the total population is more than 48 percent, according to World Bank

data (2016), but statistics indicate that female participation has remained at between 44 and 48 percent

annually over the past three decades. Research shows that fertility, employment, economic growth, and

age are the common variable that has a major impact on women's labor force participation. Results from

Qinfen, 2017, indicate that the long-term impact of GDP, the rate of education and fertility on female

labor force participants tend to be statistically irrelevant and assume that, in the long run, an increase in

female labor force participants is associated with an increase in GDP and education levels and a fall in

fertility rates.

Additionally, economic incentives through women's participation in the labor force contribute to the

improvement of employment and women's employment policies. An overall rise in the level of female

education appears to be one of the major contributing factors in the labor force for women. Education is

essential to enhance women's living standards and enable them to take a more active part in the

decision-making process within the family, the community, the place of paid work, and the political

world (Abu Bakar and Abdullah, 2007).

Studies at Chilean manufacturing firms from 2001 to 2007, found that higher gender equivalence

and a higher percentage of female LF among highly qualified medium- and small-scale employees will

dramatically improve productivity (Wu and Cheng, 2016). Higher female labor-force participation

among high-skilled workers and those small companies with less than 50 employees substantially

increase a company's productivity. Even greater gender balance among the low-skilled workforce

improves the productivity of more than 50 employees for larger businesses. Consequently, a more

equalized distributed labor force between female and male workers leads to an increase in productivity

(Wu and Cheng, 2016).

However, LGBT participation in the workforce eventually causes labor discrimination, such as

where the company fires a person who seems to have some issue in the appearances of their sex.

Moreover, LGBT usually faces negative responses from the management, such as they always treated

with bad responses such as poor services, disrespect words, and many others. Those treatments cause


74

bad anxiety among LGBT workers to perform well in their job and influence their chances to grow well

in the career aspects. Management tends to treat them differently with low wages, no benefits offered,

and many others. This shows that there is a lower LGBT labor force participation in the workforce

market.

D. Discrimination in dressing code

Even in the workplace, there has been gender discrimination in terms of dressing code of their uniforms,

especially in the hotel sector. As an example, in the hotel workplace, there is a rule that the women

workers do not have any permission to wear a hijab while working, but they are restricted from wearing

short skirts and sleeveless blouse, which is against Muslim's women. Make this habit or practice

indirectly show strict discrimination toward Muslim women? In Malaysia, twenty percent of hotels,

especially the five-star rating, would have the women who worked in the desk reception wear sexy

dressing code to attract the visitors to put in their hotel (Rahman et al., 2019). This is a clear cut of

discrimination as there is no equal opportunity and chances given to the women and men. In contrast,

women are considered as weak human beings and can be exploited easily with such regulations.

However, in future discrimination in dressing code, high star rate hotel management should follow as

low rate hotel management's habits, such as allowing the Muslim women to wear proper attire.

E. Lack of technical and managerial skills

History of the global higher education landscape recorded the domination of men. On the contrary,

since the 1990s, trends on enrolment between gender were reversed, with women outnumbering men in

nearly all the countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD,

2011). The Malaysia Gender Gap Index (MGGI) identified indicators particularly for women's

empowerment in health, education, and economic activity. Education offer opportunities for women and

makes better choices. Department of Statistics Malaysia reported that female literacy in Malaysia

increased sharply from 64.7 percent in 1980 to 88.1 percent in 2004 and 96.3 percent in 2017. Although

most women are now highly educated, still be considered as people who lack in technical and

managerial skills. Women are considered not fit to manufacturing, industrial field, and in most

employers' perceptive, women are only eligible to do small and light work (Fui and Lim, 2019). We can

see a huge gap of gender discrimination in Information Technology (IT) department where most of the

staffs under this department is male, rarely female where female were considered as they lack in the

technical skills to solve any programming and computer bugs (Perumal and Dastane, 2017).


75

Table 3. Comparison between Malaysia with Selected Countries (ASEAN and Developed

Countries) for selected gender indicators, 2016

Indicator Malaysia Singapore Thailand Philippines USA UK Australia Japan

Total

population

(million)

32.0 5.6 68.0 100.7 321.8 64.7 24.0 126.6

Female

LFPR (%)

54.3 66.0 70.0 52.0 66.0 71.0 71.0 66.0

Female

Literacy

Rate (%)

96.3 95.0 93.0 97.0 99.0 99.0 99.0 99.0

Sources: (Ministry of Women, 2007)

Educational choices between gender relate to individual motivation and interest. Gender imbalances,

partly due to the actions and desire of women not to become active in technical sectors, even though

they have graduated from tertiary education that hinders women's employment, lowers potential

earnings and deprives the economy of a source of talent and innovation (OECD, 2011).

5. Discussion

Gender equality in the workplace is widely studied throughout the world, but yet there are so many

more comprehensive efforts needed to narrow the gap. The systematic review analyzed from various

studies from different regions of the world and, most importantly, addressing the issue in Malaysia's

current context. Moreover, gender equality is recognized in Islam, the national religion and in the

Constitution of Malaysia, it is no doubt that Malaysia has implemented various measures to ensure

equal rights and value in workplaces for both genders to generate positive results for the economy and

social wellbeing of the country.

From this study, five major factors have been identified in contributing to gender equality issues

among the working-class women in the country. These factors include the cost of childcare and

household poverty, government policies and support systems, labor force participation, discrimination

in dressing code, and lack of technical and managerial skills. From analyzing each factor as carefully

documented in this study, the aim of our systematic analysis has reasoned out why an organization

embarks on ensuring gender equality to address the emerging issues faced by women at the workplace.

The increased responsibilities they have to endure and the increasing cost of childcare has urged the

government and dedicated authorities to draft policies and execute them for the benefit of working

women. Malaysia's government policies such as National Women's Policy, National Women's Action

Plan 2009 and Gender Equality Bill 2017 have brought far-reaching reforms through its various support

structures implemented by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, while also

reacting to the second objective of our study to address specific approaches to promoting workplace

gender equality.

Amongst efforts to promote workplaces' gender equality, the management of each organization

should take action, in particular, when choosing work at the office. The management should never

consider women as weak labor while treating them with equal benefits and rights. Women should be


76

appreciated for their hard work by providing them with higher salaries, good medical benefits, better

career progress rather than keeping the male staff in a higher position without any qualifications. If

employers have an impression that women lack in technical and managerial skills, especially in

Information Systems, then women should be given an opportunity for them to shine in the workplace. If

they are still lacking, there is no wrong for the employers to get complete training regarding the skills.

They can stop women's participation just after the training if they still never show any improvement

after the training provided by the employer. Nevertheless, management should never forget to consider

LGBT gender in the organization by treating them equally in work distribution and never disgrace them

in any form due to their differences in their appearances. No harsh words should not be used against

LGBT workers as it is one of the forms of gender equality practice. It would be more helpful if in the

future, the organization should never practice any discrimination in the dressing code was girls or

females need to wear attires that attract attention. In contrast, males just need to wear those normal

attires. If this habit widely used in the various workplace, obviously females will lose their respect in

the workplace, and there would be a higher chance for gender inequality to occur.

Thus, as a conclusion of this research, gender equality habits still need to be improved and should be

practiced systematically by most of the organizations in Malaysia. Malaysia's government should take

initiatives to develop women's participation in any decision-making practices either in the workplace or

even in other fields such as politics sector. The government should urge the female community and

motivate them to grow into a better person with a higher education level and their careers' status. In a

nutshell, women's voices must be heard by everyone and this will enable women to achieve success in

social, political and economic development.

References

Abu Bakar, N. A., and Abdullah, N. (2007), Labor Force Participation of Women In Malaysia. pp. 1–

17.

Aminudin, N., and Abdullah, N. A. (2009), "Gender Differences in Career Advancement: a Preliminary

Study in R&D Organization in Malaysia", Prosiding Perkem Iv, Jilid 2, Vol. 2, pp. 421–426.

Boushey, B. H., and Wright, J. (2004). Working Moms and Child Care. Center for Economic and

Policy Research, 20009(3), pp. 1–20.

Del Boca, D., Locatelli, M., and Vuri, D. (2005), "Child-care choices by working mothers: The case of

Italy", Review of Economics of the Household, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 453–477.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-005-4944-y

Fui, B., and Lim, Y. (2019), "Malaysia women left behind ? Closing the gender gap in Malaysia", Japan

Labor Issues, Vol. 3 No. 17, pp. 22–29.

Grosser, K., and Moon, J. (2008), "Developments in company reporting on workplace gender equality?.

A corporate social responsibility perspective", Accounting Forum, Vol. 32 No. 3, 179–198.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accfor.2008.01.004

Hutchings, K. (2000), "Cultural Norms and Gender Inequality in Malaysia", Jean Ailt Belkhir Race,

Gender, and Class, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 72–87.

Ismail, R., and Jajri, I. (2012), "Gender wage differentials and discrimination in Malaysian labour

market", World Applied Sciences Journal, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 719–728.

Kadiresan, V., Rethinam, K., Ramendran, C., Hamid, M. B. B., and Doming and S. N. (2015),

"Workplace gender segregation: a study from the students' perspectives of private higher learning

institutions in Klang Valley, Malaysia", Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, Vol. 14 No. 6,


77

1771–1771. https://doi.org/10.1002/asjc.637

Ler Tche Hui. (2014). A study on the barriers to Malaysians Women's career advancement. Faculty of

Accountancy and Management, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Lokshin, M., and Fong, M. (2006), "Women's labour force participation and child care in Romania",

Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 90–109.

Ministry of Women, F. and C. D. (2007). Measuring And Monitoring Gender Equality: Malaysia's

Gender Gap Index. Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.

Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., and Grp, P. (2009). Preferred Reporting Items for

Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement (Reprinted from Annals of

Internal Medicine). Physical Therapy, Vol. 89 No. 9, pp. 873–880.

Narayanan, S., and Selvanathan, B. (2017). Challenges of Women Empowerment in. International

Journal for Studies on Children, Women, Elderly And Disabled., 1(January), pp. 90–96.

OECD. (2011). Report on the gender initiative: Gender equality in education, employment and

entrepreneurship. OECD, Paris, May, pp. 25–26.

Olgiati, E., and Shapiro, G. (2002). Promoting gender equality in the workplace.

Perumal, J. M., and Dastane, O. (2017), "Challenges to Break corporate glass ceiling : What Malaysian

IT Women employees perceive ?", The International Journal of Management, Vol. 6, pp. 33–44.

Qinfen, M. (2017). "2017 Female labor force participation in Malaysia : Time-Series", South East Asia

Journal of Contemporary Business, Economics and Law, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 1–7.

Rahman, A. A., Mehat, N. H., and Hamzah, K. (2019), "Discrimination against women in workplace: a

case study on hotel dress code", Journal of Hospitality and Networks Jurnal Hospitaliti Dan

Jaringan, Vol. 1 No. 18–22), pp. 55–63.

Ruth Eikhof, D. (2012), "A double-edged sword: twenty-first century workplace trends and gender

equality", Gender in Management: An International Journal, Vol. 27, pp. 7–22.

Schofield, T., and Goodwin, S. (2005), "Gender Politics and public policy making: Prospects for

advancing gender equality", Policy and Society, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 25–44.

Wei, T. M. (2015). workplace gender equality in Kedah: An exploratory analysis.

https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004

World Economic Forum. (2019). Global Gender Gap Report 2020: Insight Report.

https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119085621.wbefs350

Wu, R., and Cheng, X. (2016), "Gender equality in the workplace: The effect of gender equality on

productivity growth among the Chilean manufacturers", The Journal of Developing Areas, Vol. 50

No. 1, pp. 257–274.

Lynette, C. (2015). Part time work, work-life balance and gender equality. Journal of Social Welfare

and Family Law, Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 321-333.

Cavero-Rubio J., Collazo-Mazon. A. and Amoros-Martinez A. (2019), "Public recognition of gender

equality in the workplace and its influence on firms' performance", Women's Studies International

Forum. Vol. 76 (102276)

Musa, N and Husin, A. (2019), "Towards gender equality in Malaysia: Legal and policy perspectives.

Veluti, S. (2008). Promotion of gender equality at the workplace: Gender mainstreaming and collective

bargaining in Italy". Fern Leg Stud 16: pp. 195-214

Elwer, S., Harryson, L., Bolin, M. and Hammerstrom, A. (2013), "Patterns of gender equality at

workplaces and psychological distress", Plos ONE 8 (1) e53246

gender equality at the workplace: malaysia's stance and

Documents