Lack of women leaders at the highest management levels of Malaysia’s top eCommerce platforms

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On May 21, 2018, Malaysia made history as Dr Wan Azizah was officially made as the first women in Malaysia and one of very few female leaders in Southeast Asia to be sworn in as a deputy prime minister. This was an important milestone as various studies have shown that organisations are more likely to thrive when there is an adequate representation of genders.

However, a recent study conducted by iPrice found a lack of women leaders the highest management levels of Malaysia’s top eCommerce platforms. The study was derived by analysing hundreds of top and mid-management personnel from Malaysia’s 15 most visited eCommerce platforms on the Map of eCommerce.

Our study found that men held 91 per cent of C-level positions (founders, directors, chiefs, c-level) while only 9 per cent were held by women. The disparity is much larger when compared to other Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Philippines & Vietnam. Vietnam & Philippines had the highest number of women in C-level positions at 23 per cent and 21 per cent.

Among the few women that holds a C-level positions in Malaysia were Ethel Hoong, Director of Online Sales at Ezbuy, Swee Lin Liew, Executive Director at Astro GoShop & Vivy Yusof, the founder of Fashion Valet.

With the eCommerce industry in Malaysia predicted to be worth RM33 billion (US$8 billion) by 2025, eCommerce businesses in the country need to overcome the gender disparity at C-level positions so that women’s views are not neglected at vital decision-making stages. People crafting technology have the power to influence how it works & it requires the minds of various demographic to maximise its effectiveness to all consumers. Hence, gender diversity is important for the people who make and use technology.

Additionally, women hold a big share of Malaysia’s demographic. As of Q1 2018, the Department of Statistics Malaysia noted that 48 per cent of the country’s population are women & men at 52 per cent. A separate report by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission highlighted that 57 per cent of online shoppers are women.

No lack of women at mid-management levels

However, we saw a smaller disparity of women leaders at mid-management levels. In Malaysia’s top eCommerce platforms, 25 per cent of women held SVP positions, 23 per cent held VP positions and 4 per cent held Head career levels. While women are well represented at mid-management levels, very few carried on to reach the highest management levels.

This was echoed by Hannah Yeoh, the Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minster at the 2018 Asean Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Show on July 2018. Yeoh stated that the number of women taking up tertiary education courses is increasing but this is not reflected in higher level positions at the workplace.

To reduce the disparity of women at the highest management levels, Yeoh stated that there is a need to empower the rights of women and recognise the importance of their roles. The deputy minister went on to state that the private sector should emulate the Government’s announcement to open childcare centres in every office in 2019.

Efforts eCommerce businesses need to undertake

If eCommerce platforms are serious in realising the full potential of eCommerce in Malaysia as revealed by Google & Temasek’s studies, they must play an active role in championing gender diversity. In the United Kingdom, the number of women on boards increased from 12 per cent in 2010 to 26 per cent in 2017 by having prominent chairmen championing for diversity within the company & externally.

To bridge this gap, eCommerce businesses must first acknowledge the lack of women at top management levels as a real issue. The previous Government in Malaysia has set the target for public listed companies to have at least 30 per cent women at board level by the year 2020. A similar target should be set by eCommerce businesses if they are serious in reducing the gender disparity.

Leaders of eCommerce platforms must take active steps to retain women in every stage of the corporate ladder & create management positions specifically for women.

Jeremy Chew is the senior content marketer for iPrice group, the fastest growing product meta-search platform in Southeast Asia. For further information, please visit https://iprice.my.