Perceived Organizational Support and Talent Retention of Women Engineers in the Malaysian Oil and Gas Sector: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

The influx of women into the workforce has been one of the dominant global social trends for the past fifty years (1970 onwards). Women contribute to half of the total population of Malaysia and play a pertinent role in the nation’s socio-economic development. The Malaysian oil and gas sector employs a significant number of academically qualified, talented, and capable women engineers to fill critical positions for organizational success and sustainability. However, gender-related and management studies have found that organizational support and talent retention of women at the workplace have posed challenges, including the oil and gas sector. This research aims to develop a preliminary conceptual framework to examine the perceived organizational support that contributes to the talent retention of women engineers in the Malaysian oil and gas sector. Two underpinning theories have been applied, i.e, the Perceived Organizational Support Theory (POST) and the Social Exchange Theory (SET). Internal perceived organizational support variables that influence employee retention and their challenges have been reviewed and examined through secondary data, online resources, and government documents. Social support, career growth, rewards, workload, and work flexibility may affect talent retention. Five hypotheses to investigate the factors leading to the retention of talented women engineers in organizations have been developed and discussed in this article. This study may bring positive impacts on talent retention and contribute to the limited gender studies in the engineering discipline within an Eastern setting in the oil and gas sector.