Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo has called for more women to share their stories in the tech industry to inspire future generations.
Speaking at the Women In Tech APAC Summit and Awards at Bank Negara Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur this morning, Gobind stressed the importance of encouraging young girls to pursue careers in technology.
“We need more women in tech to share their stories, to talk about the challenges, lessons learned, and successes achieved,” he said. “By amplifying these voices, we can inspire young girls to see tech as an exciting and rewarding career choice.”
He pointed out that increasing women’s participation in the workforce, which stood at 56.7 per cent in July 2024 according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, is a crucial objective.
Citing the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2024, Gobind noted LinkedIn data showing that women’s presence in artificial intelligence (AI) engineering has more than doubled since 2016. However, despite these gains, the tech industry still faces gender imbalances, particularly in senior leadership roles.
“Women’s representation in senior leadership across all industries, including tech, dropped slightly from 26.7 per cent in 2023 to 26.4 per cent in 2024,” he said.
“This drop, though small, highlights a larger issue. We need to ask why fewer women are reaching these positions and address the barriers that remain.”
Gobind also highlighted local initiatives, noting that Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has established the country’s first AI faculty, where 33 out of 101 students in the inaugural batch are women.
“We must continue encouraging young women to pursue higher education in AI and tech,” he said.
“To do that, we need to invest in programmes that target girls early and make technology an exciting, accessible career path.”
He cited the AI Untuk Rakyat programme, which has attracted over 1.3 million Malaysians since January, with 52 per cent of the participants being women. He also mentioned the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation’s (MDEC) #GirlsInICT initiative, which last year featured workshops and discussions with accomplished women in tech, and reached 200 female students.
MDEC aims for a 5 per cent annual increase in female participation in its Digital Ninja programme, which targets students aged 11 to 16, offering advanced digital skills, critical thinking, leadership, and entrepreneurship training. The corporation also aims for 50 per cent of female students nationwide to achieve a ‘Digital Intermediate’ rank in the national Digital Competency Score.
Malaysia’s digital economy is growing rapidly and is expected to contribute 25.5 per cent to the nation’s GDP by 2025.
