Increase in female enrollment in Syariah Finance courses

Bloomberg has reported that Malaysia’s International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) witnessed it's total enrollment rise 67 percent in two years to 507 in 2014 of whom 185 were women. In 2012, the number of females was only about 80.

INCEIF President Daud Vicary Abdullah said in a March 9 interview at the campus in Kuala Lumpur, that the university is attracting students not only from Syariah hubs in Malaysia, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, but also from countries that don’t have Islamic laws such as South Korea, New Zealand, Japan and China.

INCEIF is the only educational institute dedicated to Islamic finance and is seeing a surge in female students from around the world, helping fill a shortage of experts in a global industry set to double to $3.4 trillion by 2018.

“There’s absolutely no reason why it shouldn’t be 50-50,” Daud said in relation to the proportion of females to males, adding that it’s possible to achieve in five to 10 years. “There’s a visibility of female leaders in the industry who have done very well and who are admired. So you’ve got the role-model effect.”

Female Islamic bank executives

Hong Leong Islamic Bank Bhd.Raja Teh Maimunah Raja Abdul Aziz, Managing Director and CEO

Alliance Islamic Bank Bhd.Fozia Amanulla, Executive Director and CEO

Abu Dhabi Islamic BankNevine Loutfy, Managing Director and CEO(The only woman CEO of a Shariah lender in the Middle East)

Islamic finance prohibits the taking or receiving interest at exorbitant rates and investment in non-ethical businesses. Find out more about this course HERE.