More women in universities

• Three out four students enrolled in tertiary education are women

Seventy-five per cent (75%) of university students are women, said Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak during the opening of the 3rd global conference of Women Deliver, yesterday.

"Although we have same number of girls and boys enrolled in primary school, higher education rates are greater for women," he said.

Despite this remarkable enrolment figure, the prime minister believes that more women should be encouraged to join the labour force. He said women were not equally representing the country's labour force. The current 47% participation in the labour must be improved to see robust and sustainable growth.

In March, TalentCorp released its report on retaining women in the workforce. Family commitments (73%), Lack of social acceptance for women occupying leadership roles (47%) and male dominated work environment (43%) were the three main contributing factors to women being under-presented in senior management positions in Malaysia.

Source:Retaining Women in the Workforce, TalentCorp and ACCA, Malaysia