Barriers and Enablers to Women’s Political Leadership: A Systematic Review of the Malaysian Context

The political leadership positions in Malaysia continue to have fewer women than men despite worldwide advancements toward gender equality. The combination of legislative actions and civil society advocacy work has increased public understanding yet multiple structural barriers and institutional obstacles and cultural traditions continue to block full participation. This systematic review evaluates existing research to identify the main factors which affect women’s political leadership opportunities in Malaysia. The systematic review followed PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) protocol to search Scopus and Web of Science and Google Scholar and MyJurnal for peer-reviewed articles from 1987 to 2025. The review utilized the PICO framework to analyze Malaysian women political leaders (Population) and their political involvement (Interest) within the Malaysian political context (Comparison) and the barriers and enablers that influence outcomes (Outcome). The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) evaluated seventeen studies which met the inclusion criteria. Thematic synthesis revealed five major barriers: patriarchal party structures and nomination processes (n=11), intersectional discrimination against ethnic minorities and young women (n=7), gendered media portrayals and political cyberbullying (n=5), limited institutional support and mentorship (n=8), and restrictive gender norms around domestic roles (n=9). The study identified five enabling factors which include civil society and NGO empowerment initiatives (n=6) and party reforms and leadership training (n=5) and digital activism and youth participation (n=6) and support from male allies and progressive elites (n=4) and cross-cultural networking among women politicians (n=3). The research demonstrates how structural elements and institutional frameworks and social cultural factors work together to require immediate implementation of gender quotas and party system reforms and intersectional strategies and enhanced media ethics to achieve representation equality and inclusive political engagement in Malaysia.