Malaysia can generate an additional 36 per cent gross domestic product (GDP), equivalent to US$200 billion gains (US$1=RM4.78), if women’s participation in the country’s labour force were equal to men’s, said 30% Club Malaysia chair Datuk Ami Moris.
Therefore, she said, it is crucial for Malaysia to continue to unleash the potential of women in the economy.
“One of the Madani Economy’s seven goals is increasing women’s economic participation to 60 per cent and that is what we are aiming to achieve,” she said at the Youth Economic Forum 2023 today.
According to the Statistics Department, the country’s female labour participation rate stood at 55.8 per cent in 2022 compared with 81.9 per cent for men.
Ami pointed out that despite a higher percentage of women entering science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses at the education level, their participation in senior management, C-suite (executive-level manager) and boardroom is still low.
“It thins out to a global average of 25 per cent to 35 per cent,” she said.
Ami said 53 per cent of female students enrolled in STEM university programmes, while 52 per cent of women graduates entered the workforce.
