Social Inclusion and Exclusion of Women Directors in Malaysia

Abstract

Modern society is currently experiencing strong influences in the 21st-century that are shaping culture, structure and various institutional features. Although modern rational value systems supersede traditional ones, some traditional and modern values still coexist. The blurring of the modern-traditional values dichotomy is the result, even now in the Malaysian corporate world, shaping corporate and economic behaviour and practices. The social inclusion and exclusion of women in board directorship are influenced by traditional values as much as modern values, hence challenging male board dominance. Based on a qualitative research methodology, this paper discusses some empirical findings. Semi-structured interviews with 17 male and female directors from public-listed (PLCs) and private companies in Malaysia found the coexistence of traditional and modern values and related aspects that have enabled women to get appointed, empowered, and sustain their appointment on the PLCs boards. Modern values like rationality, efficiency, meritocracy, professionalism, and individuality coexist with traditional personalism, trust, loyalty and patriarchy (notably male status quo dominance). These values are portrayed through hard and soft skills, technical and practical business knowledge, some personality traits and professional business and work experiences. This social inclusion and exclusion aspects will drive the rise, withdrawal, exit or even avoidance of women as company directors of PLCs in Malaysia. This blurring dichotomy argument may hold for as long as the society subscribes to the coexistence of modern and traditional values systems in modern corporate Malaysia.

Female Language Used in a Male-Dominated Workplace in Malaysia

“…Therefore, the findings concurred with Tannen (2007), where women tend to use rapport-talk when conversing between them because it is deemed an adult conversation for closeness in which they seek and offer support and reach an agreement. Moreover, the present findings also complemented the studies by Chan et al (2021) and Wood (2019) by highlighting several factors that influenced the speaking styles of female workers in the workplace setting. Patriarchy and position are the two most highlighted factors that affect their speaking styles.…”

“…Thus, as confirmed by Chan et al (2021) and Wood (2019), it is common to use patriarchy to establish social relations between men and women, which commonly act as a material base in a hierarchical manner that shows or creates independence and solidarity among men, allowing them to dominate women. With the current progress of female development in society, it is important to handle the issues that arise regarding females to ensure females achieve liberating equality as males in the workplace (Chan et al, 2021). Cameron (2020) argued that many women from various settings had experienced gendered language in the form of harassing, mocking and belittling.…”

Social Networks as Social Capital for Volunteering With Syrian Refugees in Slemani City, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

“…Another key idea in social network theory is that social actors are able to establish social networks because they have similarities between themselves, for instance, similarities in socio-demographic characteristics, views, mindsets, behavior, positions, memberships in organizations, and others (Balkundi et al, 2007;Chan, 2017aChan, , 2017bChan et al, 2011Chan et al, , 2020Christakis & Fowler, 2009;Kilduff & Tsai, 2005;Norizan & Chan, 2022;Scott, 1991) . Examples of socio-demographic characteristics are age, religion, gender, level of education, ethnicity, place of birth, place of residence, and others.…”

Women in Management Positions: A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda

“…This is in line with authors (Cabeza et al, 2019;Joecks, 2020;Maida and Weber, 2022;Osi and Teng, 2021;Pucheta et al, 2021;Ricks, 2018) who point to cultural factors such as the importance of equal gender opportunities, promotion of women in the business environment and support for gender diversity in board positions. Authors (Afzali et al, 2021;Blommaert and Van den Brink, 2020;Chan et al, 2021;Chen and Houser, 2019;Haldar et al, 2020;Halliday et al, 2021;Halrynjo and Blair, 2021;Kirsch, 2022;Kowalewska, 2021;Mateos de Cabo et al, 2022;Mensi et al, 2021;Osi and Teng, 2021) that investigated the functioning of salient organizational factors such as board culture, practices, policies, orientation programs and codes of good governance. On policies, the authors (Brieger et al, 2019;Cabeza et al, 2019;Dewally et al, 2017;De Vita and Magliocco, 2018;Foster, 2017;Heller and Gabaldon, 2018;Huang et al, 2020;Kowalewska, 2020 andLewellyn and Muller, 2020;Maida and Weber, 2022;Martínez et al, 2020;Mateos de Cabo et al, 2019;Seierstad et al, 2017;Seierstad et al, 2021;Sharda, 2019;Thams et al, 2018;Wawryszuk, 2021) focused on mandatory quotas, voluntary quotas, regulations, and policies.…”