Factors influencing gendered occupational segregation in Malaysia: A micro illustration from Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

In many developing countries, occupational segregation by gender is a topic that is much discussed but little properly investigated. In Malaysia, secondary sources of data such as the Population and Housing Census reports and Social Statistics bulletins of the Malaysian Statistics Department do show that there have been some changes in the general trends of occupational segregation in the country but factual details of occupational segregation based on gender are rather scanty. This paper seeks to throw some lights on this subject of gendered occupational segregation by presenting findings of a micro study conducted in the village of Kampung Batu 8, in the District of Seremban, Negeri Sembilan involving a sample of 120 families. Analyses of the primary data had pointed to the effective influence of six main factors of gendered occupational segregation, namely, formal education and training, division of work in the household, local culture, working conditions, facilities at the work place that were not very woman friendly, and individual preferences. The micro findings lead to the conclusion of three ways whereby not only working women may be empowered to widen their career paths but also that the division of work by gender may be simultaneously reduced. These are the introduction of more woman friendly procedures at the work place, the re-organization of work that seeks to demolish traditional identification of occupations with gender, and the improvement of the education and training policies that would enable women to climb the occupational ladder.