International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences
Vol. 3, No.1, January 2013, pp. 136–148 ISSN: 2225-8329 © 2013 HRMARS www.hrmars.com

Corporate Board Diversity in Malaysia: A Longitudinal Analysis of Gender and Nationality Diversity
Dalilawati ZAINAL1 Norhayah ZULKIFLI2 Zakiah SALEH3
Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1 2 Email: dalilawati@um.edu.my/dee_dalila@yahoo.com , Email: norhayah@um.edu.my 3 Email: zakiahs@um.edu.my
Abstract This study examines the trend of gender and nationality diversity of corporate board in top 300 Malaysian public listed firms over a five-year period from year 2005 to 2009. It also identifies any significant difference in characteristics of firms with women and foreign directors and those without women and foreign directors. Based on the secondary data derived from firms’ annual report, a longitudinal descriptive analysis on the trend of board diversity is presented. Mann-Whitney U test is conducted to identify several characteristics that differentiate between firms with women and foreign directors and those without women and foreign directors. This study found little change in the presence of women directors and foreign directors over the five-year period, which reflects a slow progress in board diversity in Malaysia. Other than that, several characteristics that differentiate between firms with women and foreign directors and those without women and foreign directors were highlighted. Overall, this study indicates the need for more efforts to encourage board diversity in Malaysia. It shed some light on board diversity issue from a developing country’s perspective, particularly Malaysia. With the unique corporate ownership structure that is different from the developed countries, Malaysia provides an interesting avenue for research.