Gender Diversity on Malaysian Corporate Boards: A Law and Social Movements Perspective

Abstract

This article provides a unique investigation of the interaction between sociocultural perceptions of women in Malaysia and reforms adopted in that jurisdiction to promote gender diversity on corporate boards. It adopts a law and social movements perspective to better understand the law reforms that have emerged, often amidst fraught interactions between the state and women’s rights activists with their conflicting constructs of gender roles. The article draws on empirical data to shed light on the practical workings of the reforms, ascertaining the perspective of insiders through interviews and examining the composition of boards in 30 of the largest listed companies. While an increase in the representation of women on corporate boards suggests that the reforms have facilitated progress towards gender equality, such progress must be viewed in light of prevalent conservative perspectives of gender roles, and sustained state resistance against women’s rights activists which together mitigate substantive equality.