Challenges and Barriers Faced by Women in Management Positions in Malaysia

Abstract

This study sought to examine the challenges and barriers affecting the career progression of women in management positions in Malaysia. Although there has been a steady progression of women entering the corporate world, they remain under-represented in top management positions. The target population was female and male managers in the business district of Kuala Lumpur. This study adopted a descriptive and explanatory research design and primary data was collected through the use of a structured questionnaire. A total of 125 female managers and 125 male managers constituted the sample of respondents. SPSS Software was used to perform data analysis and the descriptive statistics were presented using mean, frequencies and standard deviation. Correlation and regression analysis were performed to test the strength of association and relationship between the variables. The analysis results concluded that all the 5 independent variables comprising of education, family, glass ceiling, career development and training and gender stereotype have positive and significant impact on women managers’ career progression.