Historically, the finance industry has always been male-dominated.
And Islamic finance was no exception where women faced various obstacles including religious conservatism, restrictions on mixed-gender working environments and stereotypes about women in Islamic finance. However, the past decade has seen a growing band of woman professionals breaking down barriers and performing increasingly important roles in the Islamic finance industry.
These exceptionally talented and inspiring female leaders have not only set the pace to occupy leadership positions in Islamic banking and finance, but have been playing a prominent role in the overall development of the industry as well. As inspirational role models, they have become drivers of change that have inspired a whole new generation of female talent.
Women involvement in the Islamic financial services industry has come a long way, with Malaysia undeniably setting the tone. Five out of the Top 10 Most Influential Women in Islamic Finance 2018 as listed on Womani 2018 (a list of compiled by Cambridge IFA, a UK-based think tank), are leading Malaysian women in their respective areas. Malaysian women have not only set the pace to occupy high positions in the Islamic finance industry, but have played and continue to play prominent roles in the overall development of the industry at both local and global level.
Empowering Women
The topic of women empowerment has become a significant topic of discussion in development economics and is widely recognised as a key to economic growth, political stability, and social transformation. Many agencies of the United Nations in their reports have emphasized that the gender issue must be given utmost priority. World leaders, experts and scholars alike are giving their voice to this critical endeavor.
- Barack Obama, 44th US President: When women succeed, nations are more safe, secure and prosperous.
- Kofi Annan, 7th UN Secretary General: There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.
“ACCORDING TO THE WORLD BANK, EMPOWERMENT IS THE PROCESS OF INCREASING THE CAPACITY OF INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS TO MAKE CHOICES AND TO TRANSFORM THOSE CHOICES INTO DESIRED ACTIONS AND OUTCOMES.”
When we use the term women empowerment its meaning extends beyond this to include self-actualizing inner power, awareness of one’s rights and privileges and the ability to control one’s life in a more meaningful and fulfilling way.
However, women experience multiple and intersecting inequalities. Structural barriers in the economic, social, political and environmental spheres produce and reinforce these inequalities. Obstacles to women’s economic and political empowerment are barriers to sustainable development and the achievement of gender equality.
While the government, corporates, and the society at large are looking at various initiatives and means to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community; the real game changers are the women themselves. In this context, I would like to offer the “3Es” of Women Empowerment.
The first “E” is Encourage Empowerment. Even though women are making progress towards gender parity in many governments and corporates around the world, the numbers are still sobering. While more women have entered political positions in recent years, including through the use of special quotas, they still hold a mere 23.7% of parliamentary seats.
The situation is not much better in the private sector, where women globally occupy less than a third of senior and middle management positions. Deloitte’s 2017 edition of “ Women in the Boardroom: A Global Perspective” underlines that women’s placement at all board seats globally is only at 15%, up by a mere 3% from 2015.
Given that empowerment processes are dynamic, positive change in one aspect reinforces other aspects of empowerment. Mentoring, in fact, has proven to be one of the most effective tools for advancing women in the workplace and encouraging empowerment amongst women. Companies with mentoring programmes are often viewed as more attractive places to work and retain female employees at a higher rate.
Creating more women role models in the corporate world is not just good for women, it’s good for business. Companies need women and people with diverse backgrounds at the table so that they can make better and smarter decisions that respond to the diverse needs of their customers.
Hence, programmes like WOMANi, which is pioneered by Cambridge IFA, serves a good platform for both men and women to support other women professionals as they seek to advance in their careers within challenging contexts, ensuring that they have knowledge and problem-solving skills to negotiate paths to success. In addition to supporting women as individuals, mentoring programmes may contribute to change in organizational cultures by preparing women to enter leadership roles with the tools to tackle the impact of implicit bias and to promote policies and processes that nurture inclusive, supportive environments.
The second “E” is Education for Empowerment. Education is an essential means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to fully participate in the development process. In education, we have seen steady and impressive decline in gender gaps around the world. Businesses are realizing that a more diverse workforce adds a lot of shareholder value.
“EXPERIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT IS NOT AS SIMPLE AS IT MAY FIRST APPEAR. WHILE EDUCATION IS UNDOUBTEDLY A KEY ELEMENT CONTRIBUTING TO EMPOWERMENT, THE TWO DO NOT NECESSARILY GO HAND IN HAND.”
However, experience has shown that the relationship between education and empowerment is not as simple as it may first appear. While education is undoubtedly a key element contributing to empowerment, the two do not necessarily go hand in hand. Many educational programmes will focus on acquisition of formal knowledge and training, and will often equip women with the technical skills necessary to take up paid employment in a specific sector.
While it is important for women to receive formal training as part of their education, a more holistic approach that places a strong emphasis on enabling them to develop a wider awareness of themselves, ability to reflect on their own reality, to develop self-awareness and to build self-esteem is also vital.
In my view, education must be reinforced by the development of self-esteem to lift women from the status of inferiority in which society confines them. Similarly, without education and without self-esteem there cannot be empowerment. All of these elements go together hand in hand.
The third “E” is Economic Empowerment. Women’s economic empowerment is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which recognizes women’s full and equal participation in the economy as a vital step toward achieving sustainable development. This is embodied with the inclusion of a Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) on Gender Equality.
In the past, gender equality sometimes was regarded as a strictly social matter that exclusively benefits women and girls. Yet we know that nothing could be further from the truth! We know if women participated in the economy equally, the world economy would expand by 25% over the next decade.
This is one of the reasons why countries like Malaysia has placed economic empowerment and increasing economic independence of women high on the agenda. To increase women’s economic independence the Malaysian government seeks to create more opportunities for women to enter the labour market. A sum of RM20 million has been allocated under Budget 2018 for training and entrepreneurship programmes, including PEAK Entrepreneur Programme under MyWin Academy.
Empower Women, Empower Islamic Finance
There is no denying that the Islamic banking and finance industry has provided ample opportunities for women to excel in their professional life and achieve their full potential. This is evident by the increased participation of professional women in the development of Islamic finance shattering the industry’s glass ceiling. Undoubtedly, these inspirational female leaders and industry pioneers have inspired and motivated a new generation of female talent.
However, a more comprehensive view should be taken when one looks at woman’s participation in Islamic banking and finance. A holistic strategy should be devised beyond merely attracting women to this industry. Issues for example barriers to re-entry such as career obsolescence and employer bias must be given a heightened importance at the policy level.
It is hoped that the recently concluded inaugural WOMANi Awards organized by Cambridge IFA will become an annual gathering of influential women that sparks conversations about issues and opportunities that impact women inside and outside of work, challenge the status quo, and ultimately, shape the leadership culture.
