Women now hold nearly 40% of top public sector posts, Nancy tells Dewan Rakyat

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Women have continued to increase their participation in top management positions in the public sector, reaching 39.4% as of December 2025, reflecting progress in efforts to narrow the gender gap in the country, says Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

The Women, Family and Community Development Minister said statistics from the Public Service Department (JPA) showed women were increasingly being accepted in key posts that were previously synonymous with male leadership.

“Key positions that were once pioneered and held solely by men are no longer unfamiliar to women, such as the posts of Auditor-General, Chief Justice, Director-General of Customs, mayor and others,” she said when winding up the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address for the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (Feb 4).

Nancy said the achievement resulted from the government’s long-term policy introduced in 2004, which set a target of at least 30% women’s participation at decision-making levels in the public sector.

She said progress was further strengthened in 2011 when the government expanded the policy to include at least 30% women’s participation at decision-making levels in the private sector, aimed at increasing women’s participation in employment and further narrowing the gender gap.

Nancy said data from the Securities Commission Malaysia as of April 2025 showed women held 33.1% of board seats in the top 100 public-listed companies (PLCs) on Bursa Malaysia, up from 14% in 2015.

“Based on these statistics, it can be concluded that significant progress has been achieved, particularly in efforts to empower women in both the public and private sectors,” she said.

However, Nancy said women’s participation in politics remained a challenge and various initiatives had been implemented by the Ministry to improve representation and encourage greater participation of women at the highest leadership levels.

She said throughout 2025, the Ministry, through the Women Development Department (JPW), allocated a total of RM11.5mil for the implementation of various women’s empowerment and leadership programmes.

“Among them is the Women Leadership Apprenticeship Programme (Perantis), which aims to enhance the potential and number of talented women eligible to hold high positions, whether in the public or private sectors, or to play a more influential role at the community level,” she said.

She said in 2024, a total of 1,247 Perantis participants were mentored by 25 figures across 10 selected fields, including two figures who organised political leadership modules that benefited 70 participants.

She added that last year, the programme was expanded with the involvement of 100 women figures and 4,035 participants, including seven figures who organised political programmes that benefited 284 participants.

Nancy said the Perantis programme would continue this year and parties interested in participating in the women-in-politics category were encouraged to submit applications via the JPW portal at www.jpw.gov.my before Feb 28. – Bernama