PUTRAJAYA: Efforts to enhance women’s participation at all levels of society must go beyond representation to include exposure and training, says Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri (pic).
The Women, Family and Community Development Minister emphasised the importance of sustained and accessible leadership development for women.
“The key is exposure: giving women opportunities to connect, engage and learn from one another,” she told reporters after launching the “Women’s Seminar 2025: EmpowerHER – Engage, Energise, Elevate”, here yesterday, Bernama reported.
“A 30% increase in female workforce participation could boost Malaysia’s gross domestic product by up to 12%,” she said, citing a Khazanah Research Institute report.
Nancy stressed that Malaysia must move beyond tokenism and invest in ecosystems that enable real progress through training.
While women are making strides in business, technology, sports and governance, she notes that significant barriers remain.
Nancy said women entrepreneurs still struggle with unequal access to funding and markets, while in tech, they are underrepresented in leadership.
“In government, the question remains: are they truly empowered or just symbolic?
“Despite comprising nearly 60% of the public sector, they remain under-represented in top leadership roles,” she added.
Nancy called for stronger mentorship and leadership pipelines as well as the dismantling of systemic barriers.
She pointed out that Malaysia has reached gender parity in education, with women making up 56.3% of public university enrolment in 2024, yet this achievement has not translated into equal economic participation.
“In 2023, only 56.2% of women were in the workforce compared with 82.3% of men.
“Many remain outside the labour force due to family responsibilities,” Nancy said.
To address this, she says the Madani Economy Framework aims to raise female labour force participation to 60% within a decade, which will require policy reforms, stronger support systems and inclusive work environments.
Nancy said the ministry is driving this challenge through the National Women’s Policy and the 2025-2030 Action Plan, anchored on gender-disaggregated data, gender-responsive budgeting, impact assessments and audits.
