Author(s) :

Hayati Md. Salleh, Ismail Rejab.

Volume :

Abstract :

The level of participation of women in the co-operative movement is still considered to be unsatisfactory. While women members constitute 34% of the total membership of co-operatives in the country. out of a total of 27,664 Board Members of co-operatives (excluding school co-operatives), men dominate (90.7%) representing 24,992 members, while women only form 10% represented by 2,672 members. The purpose of this study was to explore the participation of women in selected co-operatives in Peninsular Malaysia and to determine variations of their participation across selected demographic variables. Women's participation in co-operatives was measured using a measurement scale developed based on various co-operative activities that indicate participation. It was found that there was a significant difference in the level of participation between two women s groups namely, women from the women-only co-operatives and women from mixed co-operatives. Further exploration of their participation indicates that women with children below 18 years old tended to be comparatively more active in the co-operative movement than those without children of a similar age group.Women who were self-employed and working with the government were found to be more active than women who were in the private sector. Self-employed housewives had more available time to participate in the co-operative movement. This was also the case among those working with the government. In addition, it was found that woman members with university education were found to be less actively participating, as compared to woman members with secondary education. In general many situations and factors contribute to varying levels of women's participation in co-operatives.

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