mailto:uumlib@uum.edu.my 24x7 Service; AnyTime; AnyWhere

Examining the representation of ethnic minority groups and women in the Malaysian civil service

Mohamed, Ahmad Martadha and Kim, Pan Suk (2014) Examining the representation of ethnic minority groups and women in the Malaysian civil service. Southeast Asia Journal, 24 (1). pp. 3-38. ISSN 1225-4738

[thumbnail of U.PDF] PDF
Restricted to Registered users only

Download (17MB) | Request a copy

Abstract

A retrospective view of the government's policies with respect to equal employment opportunity shows a transition from merely suggesting that government will integrate people from different gender and ethnicity into the workplace to taking proactive steps to increase the representation of women and minority groups in the civil service. However, ensuring a bureaucracy that mirrors the population it serves remains a daunting task.Some people have attributed at least some of the blame for the failure to achieve a fully representative civil service to inadequate support for such efforts by political leaders.Yet, in the context of Malaysia, it is the localization policy that is worthy of consideration that shows disproportionate numbers of women ana minorities in the civil senice as opposed to their number in the population.In addition, the unequal chances in recruitment and career advancement as well as the low pay discourage the minorities and women's application into the bureaucracy.The important issue raised is whether there exists a case of unequal opporhmities against wome and minority groups in the civil service in Malaysia.Building upon t$ls foundation, the paper argues that even if bureaucratic representativeness is an important tool for increasing government legitimacy, the structural, political and economic features of Malaysia have a bearing on the gender and minority representativeness of the civil service at the national and sub-national levels.The dearth of representative bureaucracy literature is then discussed within the historical context of Malaysia.In the conclnsion, it is noted that more strategies and policy action need to be taken to ensure representative bureaucracy, which requires more than just passive representation; active representation is essential.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: representative bureaucracy, women, ethnic minority groups, Bumiputra, Malaysia
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Divisions: College of Law, Government and International Studies
Depositing User: Prof. Dr Ahmad Martadha Mohamed
Date Deposited: 12 May 2015 05:55
Last Modified: 12 May 2015 05:55
URI: https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/13948

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item