Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in Corporate, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on August 1 - 7, 2016.

 

THE fact that there are more female undergraduates in local public universities is not something new and the phenomenon has been observed worldwide. However, in Malaysia, the gap is much wider compared with selected countries. The concern is that such a trend could lead to economic and social consequences.

Government statistics show that last year, female student intake, enrolment and output were higher than that of men at almost all levels of study in public universities except at the doctorate level (see Table 1).

The gap is highest among bachelor’s degree graduates, with 1.88 females to every male graduate. The ratio is also known as the Gender Parity Index and according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), GPI measurement of 0.97 to 1.03 indicates gender parity.

A report by Penang Institute highlights the widening gender gap at Universiti Malaya, favouring female undergraduates. In 1959, UM had a GPI of only 0.12 but this rose to 1.63 in 2013 (see Table 2). This is also true in all public universities where the GPI had risen to 1.71 in 2013 from 1.66 in 2009.

The study also finds that women outnumber men in seven of the eight major fields of study in Malaysia. The gender disparity is greatest in the fields of education, Penang Institute says of its findings, based on data from the Ministry of Higher Education. This is followed by health and welfare (2.51) and the field of science, mathematics and computers (1.69) — subjects that are often believed to be male-dominated in countries overseas.

The field of study in which men still outnumber women is engineering, manufacturing and construction.

“The worry is that although there are more women graduates, female labour participation is only 59% (2011 data), which means that the universities are training a lot of people but not a lot of them are in the labour force,” says Prof Dr Jariah Masud of Universiti Putra Malaysia.

She adds that some of these highly educated women have likely become homemakers and mothers. One reason some of them have left the workforce to focus on raising their children is the lack of a support system.

“From a nation’s perspective, it’s a loss when much has been invested in these people but they are not in the workforce. Why? Most feel there is no reliable childcare, and problems with maids. They don’t have confidence in the support system,” Jariah explains.

The childcare facilities include those offered by employers. However, Jariah says there is a perception among employers that women employees will be distracted if their babies are nearby.

“We’re in transition from traditional to developed-nation mentality,” she adds.

Ong Kian Ming, general manager at Penang Institute and Serdang Member of Parliament, says the effects of this gender disparity could be muted if the female participation rate in the labour force can be increased significantly.

According to the 2015 Labour Force Survey, the female participation rate increased slightly to 54.1% from 53.7% the year before (among the 15 to 64-year-olds). Meanwhile, the male participation rate was unchanged at 80.6% between 2014 and 2015.

Among the 25 to 34-year-olds, the female participation rate was 72% in 2015, up from 71% in 2014. For the same cohort, the male participation rate remained at 96.8% for both years.

“If we look at developed countries, even though there is a gender disparity in the universities in favour of females, the gap between male and female participation rates in the labour force is much smaller than in Malaysia (less than 10% in most developed countries). Without an increase in the female participation rate in the labour force, this means that there is a lot of ‘wasted’ resources in terms of the training that women get at the higher education level.

“Of course, there will be some who argue that well-educated women who decide to leave the workforce to be homemakers are contributing to society in other ways. But my argument is purely an economic one and does not take into consideration other social benefits,” says Ong.

So, where are the male students?

According to Jariah, who specialised in gender studies at UPM before taking up her current position as a research fellow, the trend of a higher number of girls in Form 4 emerged nationwide in public schools in the mid-1990s.

“They (boys) start dropping out in Forms 1 and 2. Between 12 and 14 [years old], boys go through an identity crisis. They are looking for something but there is no guidance with few males in the teaching profession. After the Form 3 exams, it gets worse — the number of boys in Form 4 falls,” she says.

As to possible reasons why the trend emerged in the 1990s, Jariah says children face more challenges these days with more distractions in their environment compared with the past. Besides that, the education system’s emphasis on academic achievement may give girls, who are more academically inclined, an advantage over boys, who prefer more vocational and hands-on training.

She says among the Chinese schoolboys who drop out, many tend to be drawn to their family’s business or trade where they can still cultivate life skills. The same cannot be said of their Malay and Indian counterparts, she adds.

Another possible outcome of the low number of males in universities is an increase in male unemployment or underemployment.

“As Malaysia’s economy becomes more developed and sophisticated, the percentage of jobs in the manufacturing, mining and construction sectors will decrease and the percentage of jobs in the service sector will increase.

“Demand for more educated and qualified employees in the service sector will also increase. Given that women are seen as more suited and better represented in the growing service sector, and the fact that a smaller percentage of men attend university, there may be fewer jobs for men in the formal economy, leading to an increase in the male unemployment rate. This has knock-on effects such as the possibility of higher crime rates as men resort to other means to earn an income,” says Ong.

Jariah says with highly educated women dropping out of the workforce, this could mean a lack of financial security for their children’s education and for their own retirement.

“It’s going back to their traditional role with no source of income, no financial security, in their old age,” she explains.

As to whether enough is being done to address the declining male enrolment in local public universities, the good news is that the government’s focus on developing human capital has elevated the need for technical and vocational education and training (TVET).

With 60% of the 1.5 million newly created jobs under the 11th Malaysia Plan requiring TVET skills, the country needs to increase TVET enrolment from 164,000 in 2013 to 225,000 by 2020.

Ong believes that more compelling course offerings in the TVET sector is one way to overcome the gender disparity gap.

“It’s one area that the government is pushing very heavily into. The government is also encouraging the private sector to get involved in the provision of TVET education. Since this sector is seen as catering more for male students, this could decrease the number of male students who drop out of school after Form 3 or choose to work after Form 5. The challenge here is how an attractive TVET sector can be developed, especially in a manner that can provide good training and jobs for the students,” he says.

Jariah agrees, adding that there is now a pathway for those who wish to pursue their interest in vocational training, even up to the degree level.

But despite the large number of females in local universities, women are still under-represented in corporate boardrooms and decision-making positions in government. Clearly, Malaysia is still a long way from achieving gender parity. 

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