Women, leadership and liberal arts are the principal themes of a fledgling university in Malaysia that is the first of its kind in South-east Asia.

Situated in Penang in the country’s north-west, Asian Women’s Leadership University College (AWLUC) is a small, not-for-profit liberal arts entity now 15 months into operation.

AWLUC currently offers a master’s in leadership development that has been accredited by the Malaysian government. The programme, which launched last year, has enrolled 14 students from countries including Malaysia, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

The university was set up by three Asian graduates who studied at Smith College, a private women’s liberal arts college in Massachusetts in the US. The three women, who met through the Smith alumni network, wanted to set up an equivalent educational model for women in Asia.

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There are already several private women’s universities in Asia, including Nara Women’s University in Japan, China Women’s University and the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh, one of the more established liberal arts institutes. But AWLUC is the first in South-east Asia.

Malaysia was identified as somewhere an educational model focused on women could be effective because progress in female leadership has been mixed across the country’s key sectors. Gender diversity is strong in corporate environments, where the share of women in senior management sits at 41.9 per cent. Last year, the Securities Commission Malaysia reported that women occupied more than 30 per cent of board positions among Malaysia’s top 100 firms.

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However, Sushila Krishnaswamy-Chang, vice-chancellor and chief executive of AWLUC, told Times Higher Education that there are “still some critical gaps” in female leadership in Malaysia.

Women hold only 13.6 per cent of parliamentary seats, which is below the global average of 27.5 per cent. Participation in the workforce is far lower among women (56.5 per cent in 2024) than it is among men (83 per cent), according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

Krishnaswamy-Chang said: “When you look at the statistics, you find that women get into places of power…but then there comes a slump where they do not progress. There are a lot of women at the middle level who can’t move up.

“Maybe it is because they don’t have the confidence. Maybe it is because of the environment. Maybe it is both. If they do not have the confidence, this is what we [AWLUC] are about. We’re going to empower them to get that confidence and to be able to put themselves out there.”

As a private university, AWLUC is funded by philanthropic donations, which are used to fund scholarships for women from the bottom 40 per cent of households by income. Some 70 per cent of AWLUC’s students are recipients of partial or full scholarships.

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Faculty have been recruited from universities across South-east Asia, including the National University of Singapore, and professors have expertise in the disciplines of leadership and gender.

According to the vice-chancellor, the class profile is largely working professionals. This means flexibility is important, so lectures are scheduled during evenings and weekends.

The leadership development master’s course uses a blended teaching and learning approach, with up to 60 per cent of teaching delivered online and the remainder conducted face to face. Examples of modules on the course include leadership theory, conflict resolution and negotiation, and leadership in cross-cultural contexts.

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Recruitment is growing steadily, and the institution will welcome more than 20 new students this month, Krishnaswamy-Chang said. AWLUC has also received provisional accreditation for four undergraduate programmes that will launch next year.

Krishnaswamy-Chang joined AWLUC after previous stints as vice-chancellor of the University of Fiji and deputy vice-chancellor at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She is deeply passionate about the role of female educational models. There is “a freedom” in women’s colleges “to say what you want, to be what you want. You don’t have to worry about how you look or how you don’t look. The intent is to uplift women.”

Just as important as the “women only” element in making AWLUC “different” is its liberal arts focus, said Krishnaswamy-Chang.

“I think now, with what AI is doing, critical thinking, problem solving is going to be very necessary. We’re very happy we went into that space.”

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rosalind.skillen@timeshighereducation.com