Happy International Women's Day 💗

By Siew Ching

Here’s to all the women in our lives – thank you!

Come March 8 we celebrate the real heroes in our lives – women everywhere. From looking after the family to being great sisters and friends as well as hardworking individuals, nothing can compare to the many sacrifices women have made for their loved ones. To all the women out there, GRADUAN® wishes you a Happy International Women’s Day and more importantly, we will continue to celebrate you not only today but every day!

Women already make significant contributions be it in communities, industries, sports, the arts, sciences and politics. We’ve had first female leaders, award-winning athletes, CEOs, and let’s not forget the ones who are every day making strides to change our society for the better in every little way they can.

In the workplace, women too have made themselves equal success stories as their counterparts. And from the looks of it, this is a trend that’s just going to keep happening year after year! Here are some facts and figures you need to know about women in the workplace.

In 2022, women make up 40% of senior management in Malaysian companies That’s almost half, and it is a 3% point jump from 2021 – the highest number ever recorded since 2004 according to Grant Thorton International Ltd’s Women in Business research which surveys senior leaders from 5,000 businesses across 29 economies.

Globally, women make up 32% of positions in senior management teams Also from the same research. Compare this with our Malaysian stats, we’d say Malaysian women are pretty impressive!

Female CEOS in Malaysia stand at 38% in 2022 And this is an increase of 28% in 2021. That’s not all – this 2022 stat is also the highest percentage of women holding CEO/MD ever recorded in Malaysia, making it really encouraging and inspiring to all women out there vying for the top spot!

Unfortunately, female participation in the labour force in 2022 was only 55.5%, which is a rather low figure compared to other Southeast Asian countries. To combat this, there are many government incentives and tax exemptions for female workers, further encouraging women to continue doing their very best in their role opening new ways for even more success stories. Many organisations also take it upon themselves to be more inclusive and embrace diversity to push for female representation in their companies. Well done, Malaysia!

Another thing to be proud of for the future of Malaysian women? A Statista report in 2022 indicated that there were more female students (62%) against male students enrolled in Malaysia’s public higher institutions in 2022. Here’s something to think about. In the late 1950s, women only made up 10.7% of the total undergraduate population at Universiti Malaya. We’ve definitely come far!

Share your experience as a women working in Malaysia and how your company is helping you succeed at @Graduan.

Photo by Vonecia Carswell on Unsplash.

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