PUTRAJAYA, Oct 21 (Bernama) — The ‘invisible women syndrome’ and the ‘glass ceiling phenomenon’ scenarios should be tackled in public, with corporate sectors ensuring full participation of women professionals in heading to the top.
Women, Family and Community Development Ministry secretary-general Datuk Sabariah Hassan said the ‘invisible women syndrome’ was a scenario where hardworking women did not get noticed during promotional exercise, while the ‘glass ceiling phenomenon’ was a setting made by the organisation where women heading to the top position did not get the opportunity to do so.
“This has a strong link to lack of networking and communication skills…the equality between men and women is really about acknowledging and celebrating the differences.
“Opportunities given between men and women should be equal but do not expect the capabilities between men and women to be equal…harnessing women’s potential by ensuring women are equal partners in the public sector is the strategic element in the blueprint of a nation’s development,” she said in her presentation at the ‘Women as Equal Partners in the Public Sector’ session.
The session took place on the final day of the three-day Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Mangement (CAPAM) biennial conference at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) here Tuesday.
Sabariah said, as for the policy of at least 30 per cent women in decision-making positions in the Public Sector announced in 2004, significant progress had been seen where women holding decision-making positions increased to 33.7 per cent last year, from 18.8 per cent in 2004.
She said that due to the success of the policy in the public sector, Malaysia introduced the policy for the corporate sector in June 2011, where the target was set for women to comprise 30 per cent of those holding board positions in companies listed in Bursa Malaysia public-listed companies (PLCs) by the end of 2016.
“Securities Commission (SC) is taking a persuasive approach to engage PLCs to achieve the said 30 per cent target by 2016. In July 2011, the SC launched its Corporate Governance Blueprint 2011, recommending boards to establish a policy formalising their approach to diversity,” she added.
She said the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG) 2012 was the first major deliverable of the Corporate Governance Blueprint 2011 and sought to implement most of the recommendations in the Blueprint.
“The recommendations are standards that PLCs are expected to adopt as part of their governance structure and processes,” she said.
Meanwhile, another speaker, Julius Mukunda, Uganda’s Forum for Women in Democracy senior programmes director, said that among the factors that prevented women from climbing up the ladder, included women still being regarded as not good enough to be heads of department.
He also stressed on the need for political parties to accept gender mainstreaming as key strategy in their works, and also to “fight patriarchy with all the power that is necessary by using gender awareness that is still relevant.”
— BERNAMA
