Actores «intencionales»

The educational level appears to reflect the policy of Malay privilege. I do not intend to restate the discussion in Chapter Two, rather, I explain how privilege begins at the school level. A special form of highly subsidised boarding school with emphasis on science education was set up by the Ministry of Education to admit selected Bumiputera children (Raman and Sua, 2010). The fully residential schools were originally meant for bright students to be given an opportunity to excel in both academic and non-academic areas. The downside is that enrolment in these schools only prioritised the Malay ethnic group, and reflected the weaknesses of the measures taken by the government to desegregate the education system (Pong, 1993). Thus, it is worth examining whether Malay senior women’s experiences while in the boarding schools or day schools could be part of a success story for them.

The analysis has shown ten out of thirty-one senior women in this study went to boarding schools (all Malays). The school took over their parents’ responsibility to look after them and provide every qualified Bumiputera student with the facility. The parents wanted their daughters to learn survival skills that could help them overcome challenges in their future undertakings. A lot of influences came from the teachers and friends they lived with and in a positive way, it made them very independent. At the same time, having the opportunity to join the after school clubs and inter-school competitions increased their level of confidence, which is reflected in their ability to hold senior roles in organisations (Jogulu and Wood, 2011). Melati who went to one of the elite boarding schools in Malaysia confessed that the disciplinary system at boarding school gave her good training and increased her level of confidence. She was motivated to be well organised, punctual and did not like to keep others waiting for her.

On the other hand, Malay women who did not attend a boarding school felt that this reflected their parents’ belief that they could excel regardless of whatever type of school they attended. Rose voiced that she was motivated and self-disciplined even though she had only attended a daily school. Tulip mentioned that family bonding was important which was the reason why her family chose day school over boarding school. Apart from being exposed to a good learning environment at home, these women had attended extra classes at tuition centres and received extra revision books for their home learning. This kind of experience may not be something that those who went to a boarding school enjoyed. Malay women’s experiences in this study demonstrate that both groups enjoyed similar experiences regardless of whether they went to a boarding or day school.

Interestingly, interviewees, the majority of whom were Malay, who attended girls-only schools stressed the competitiveness was higher than in the other national schools (e.g. mixed-sex day schools, mixed-sex boarding schools, or same-sex boarding schools). The preferential treatment policy resulted in the non-Malays choosing the girls-only schools over the mixed- national school. To a large extent, ethnicity is socially constructed and ethnic inequality in

education is complicated in Malaysia. Having said that, given the ethnic diversity of the students in girls-only day schools teachers were more likely to use English as the medium of instruction, not the Malay language. Melur shared her experience,

“I went to the Methodists Girls’ school, the competition becomes at that level [raising her hand high]. When everybody speaks in English, I do not understand what they are talking about. They are all non-Malays” (Melur, Director, Private Sector)

This encouraged Malay senior women to develop their English communication skills when they grew up and helped them to develop their career trajectories to the international level. Kamelia also remembered that she had to compete not only with the Malays, but also with other females from different ethnic backgrounds. Although she was in the top class, she had to work extra hard and be competitive among her multi-ethnic classmates. Five senior women described that ethnicity was never an issue and they had good relationships with their classmates from all ethnic backgrounds. Ten senior women identified they had a lot of fun and enjoyed their schooling years and it did not have much effect on their current careers.

Moving into higher education, approximately half of the women had chosen arts subjects, only six interviewees were in the science streams. It must be remembered that some of these women had been in school during the late 1960s, early 1970s and 1980s, when few women selected science as a major field of study (Chang-Da Wan, 2018). When the senior women were questioned on their subject choices at university, thirteen of them had a career in mind while they were receiving education, seven pursued their ‘best subjects’, two senior female managers said they had no preference as long as they received their education and three were given advice by family members. Many of the women had majored in Accountancy, Finance and Economy, and Business Administration. Seven Malay women pursued non-traditional areas such as engineering, building and town planning, bio-health, and law.

Also, a degree or professional qualification, especially from a foreign university, was considered a stepping-stone to a career in management, particularly in multinational firms. This can be seen where eleven senior women in the study obtained their first degrees from foreign universities, mainly in the UK, US, and Australia, whereas the remainder had attended public universities in Malaysia. It is possible that the level of education of these senior women managers was more in keeping with the economic boom of the mid-1980s (Pong, 1995; Hussin, 2008). It must be mentioned that eighteen Malay senior women in the study had won the Malaysian government scholarships to study overseas. Following an earlier practice of providing full scholarship to selected students to pursue higher education locally and overseas, the government increased the fund for qualified Malay students. The better qualifications of Malay senior female managers came as no surprise given the government’s preferential

treatment of Malays as Bumiputera following the introduction of NEP in 1970 (see Chapter Two). Moreover, supported by the quota system at the local universities and the programme for overseas training, this could have increased the number of professionally trained Malay women in Malaysia.

It is also important to look at the differences between Malay public and private sector women where eight private sector women did their first degree abroad whilst only three did so from the public sector. The value of an international education gained by women in the private sector stood in comparison to their public counterparts where the entry to senior positions was influenced more by a higher business qualification. Interviewees believed that they gained more self-confidence, foreign language fluency and were less conservative if they were trained overseas. They felt it was one of the most critical ingredients for senior female managers to succeed since qualifications obtained from a university in an English-speaking country were often accredited higher status than those obtained at home. Although the remaining women went to local universities, this still reflects that the Malays appear to benefit more in education. This comparison can be clearly seen in the next section when discussing the non-Malay women experiences.

When the analysis was associated with the attitudes of the parents in the Malay family, the majority of them reported that their parents recognised the value of education and encouraged them to obtain university-level qualifications. Kamelia clearly recalled her father’s advice about getting a good education in order to maintain their family financial stability and social status.

“My father is very particular on education especially about the exam results. He said he wanted to put us in a good school because doing well in study is very important for our future” (Kamelia, Vice President of Treasury, Private Sector)

However, two of the interviewees, Akasia and Nona, disclosed that their parents did not encourage them to pursue their studies. Akasia mentioned that the parents prioritised her younger brother’s education more and felt that the rule was unfair. Although her brother was reluctant to study, her parents really forced him to do it, but despite this she was the one who eventually attained higher qualifications than her brother. This reflects the traditional structure of a patriarchal society that enables unequal encouragement towards women to receive better education. Bounded by a set of Islamic teachings and the Malay culture, adhering to the parents’ rules is compulsory, hence Akasia acquiesced and pursued her passion without being offended by her parents.

“the competition was between me and my younger brother … It’s not I’m being envy with him but it’s the culture when men will be putting first … I don’t believe only men supposed to have higher education. Women

also can if they want to … My brother doesn’t really bother into studies, but my parents really forced him to study. When it comes to me, my parents asked what the contribution from me would be if I were to further my studies” (Akasia, Deputy Secretary General, Public Sector)

The idea of male dominance in society not only prevails in the family system but extends to other aspects of people’s lives. Nona, a Vice President in the GLC, voiced her heartfelt frustration when her parents did not allow her to further her study abroad. Her father always had at the back of his mind that women should not gain extra qualifications when they ultimately will end up in the kitchen. Yet, she was more successful in educational achievements as her brother did not focus and had no interest to further his studies.

“When I was in Form 4, I had an opportunity to go to Canada for exchange student, but my father did not allow me to go. What hurts me as far as the statement from my father was if it is your brother I will let him go. But my brother is a lazy person. He did not like to study” (Nona, Vice President, Private Sector)

Similar to Akasia, being a good daughter who was constrained by the Malay cultural upbringing, Nona just obeyed her father’s words but continued working and saving so she could pay for her university fees at a later stage. The parents are likely to care more about their sons than daughters due to a highly patriarchal society (Cooke, 2010; Xiaolei et al., 2013). To some extent, the patriarchal privilege might over-ride the ethnic privilege in Malaysian society which has prevented daughters from taking advantage of their ethnic privilege as Malays to obtain an education. The authority of their father was still seen as important for women to access formal education, which to some extent, echoes the existence of private patriarchy in the Malaysian context. These findings indicate the traditional Asian parents’ beliefs that women should not be educated are still current and women need to persevere to achieve what they want to do. These Malay women got a good education, but they had to struggle to achieve it due to the patriarchal relations in the family. This situation, nevertheless, is different to the experiences of non-Malay senior women, as discussed in the section below.