Dr Tariq Umar, School of Architecture and Environment at UWE Bristol, visited University of Malaya (UM), Malaysia to participate in the collaborative activities of external funded project “Building psychological resilience in women leaders: strengthening support systems in Malaysian and Indonesian universities” – funded by Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Regional Institute for Higher Education Development (RIHED) and the British Council.
The on-site activities were held from 17 September to 19 September 2025 at the Faculty of the Built Environment, University of Malaya. The on-site activities included awareness sessions, trainings, panel discussion, guest lectures and meeting with the University of Malaya leadership – to share the results and recommendations arriving from the project.
In his speech, Dr Umar highlighted the key findings of the project. He stated that, both in UM and Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Indonesia, women face more obstacles and men in attaining leadership positions. This clearly highlighted the continued importance of UM and UGM commitment to gender equity.
Referring to the focus group discussion, he further stated that these challenges are not seen as barriers but as opportunities for both universities to expand mentorship programmes, support mechanism, build more structured leadership policies, promote inclusivity and ensure equal access to opportunities. Referring further to the results of the project, he stated that overall, both the organisations culture is widely supportive of women’s leadership advancement – particularly, how peers are supporting each other in routine work and in difficult situations.
Dr Umar outlined that gender considerations still influence the performance evaluation and leadership selection – negatively affecting fairness and inclusion. A major setback in this arises from the assumptions about women availability and or the higher level of scrutiny for women leaders. A way forward for this is to include leadership training, unconscious awareness, strengthening trust, leadership development pathways and creating supportive spaces for women to build confidence and leadership.
He finally touched on a very difficult aspect of the women leadership – work-life balance. He noted that, while there are several polices such as maternity leave and childcare facilities, there is a need of more flexible work arrangements, childcare option on campus and consistency across different faculties. He stated that our project findings suggest that many women declined leadership roles due to childcare or elderly dependents. He emphasised that enhancing work-life balance is not just a welfare initiative but a leadership development strategy. Supporting flexibility can expand the pool of capable women willing to take up leadership roles improving the gender, inclusion and diversity in the university.
During his visit, he had several meetings with UM leadership, including Deputy Vice-Chancellor, the Dean of Built Environment, and academics and researchers from different faculties. He also met the project team from UGM Indonesia, academics from International Islamic University, Malaysia and the founder and chairman of the Women Leadership Foundation, Malaysia. Several overlapping research interests strongly suggest that the collaboration and connections formed through this project will continue in the future – which is likely to enhance future institutional collaboration among UWE Bristol, UM, and UGM.