Gender diversity in the professional workplace has always been a struggle for many countries like Japan and Korea. This cultural breakthough for women is an work in progres and in countries like Malaysia, there is a conscious effort on the side of the government to promote gender diversity.
Malaysia's Hong Leong Islamic Bank Bhd. Chief Executive Officer Raja Teh Maimunah Raja Abdul Asis had experienced this matter firsthand. The CEO never felt discriminated in Malaysia but she did feel the discrimination offshore. When CEO was speaking in a conference in Eurpoe, she was questioned on her capabilities on Islamic Finance because of her gender.
The 46-year-old Raja Teh Maimunah Raja Abdul Asis has filled the role of Chief Executive Officer at Malaysia's fourth largest bank last 2011.
Another female CEO, Fozia Amanulla, from Alliance Islamic Bank Bhd. commented on the subject. She recalls attending a meeting in a Saudi Arabian bank where there is no toilet for women and everyone in the building were comprised of men.
In Malaysia, two out of 16 Islamic lenders currently have a female CEO and 3 out of 11 members of the central bank Advisory Board are also female.
According to data from the World Bank, females from 15 years old and above were employed last 2012 which is around 44 percent compared to its peers in United Arab Emirates at 47 percent, Bahrain at 39 percent and Saudi Arabia at 18 percent.
Prime Minister Najib Razak aims to increase the female workforce participation by 2015 to 55 percent. This push is beneficial to the labor market as employers are able to tap more of the talent pool. Females are also being allowed to hone their talents and their performance are being recognized. Since Najib had taken office last 2009, he embarked on a number of steps to ensure gender diversity encouragement. The government had set around 2.2 billion ringgit last October for programs training females on how to become corporate directors and strong entrepreneurs.
Malaysia currently holds the third biggest economy in Southeast Asia. According to estimates of Ernst and Young, Malaysia's assets is seen to double by the year 2018.
