EY held the Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 Malaysia awards on January 13th of this year, congratulating all the winners and finalists. Thirteen entrepreneurs competed for the top award in four categories, including an overall Entrepreneur of the Year Award, which will represent Malaysia at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award in June 2023.
One of the categories, the EY Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 Malaysia award, recognized female entrepreneurs and contributed to Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals – Gender Equality, according to EY’s press release. However, this award raises questions about the differentiation between a “Woman” entrepreneur and a “Man” entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact are not gendered qualities and there should not be a need for a separate category for female entrepreneurs.
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The other categories for the awards were Emerging Entrepreneur, Technology Entrepreneur, and Master Entrepreneur, and it’s unclear why a female entrepreneur cannot compete in any of these categories. Entrepreneurs only compete with themselves, overcoming challenges and competing against their own lack of confidence and mistakes. The separate category for female entrepreneurs devalues the challenges they face, especially considering the additional challenges they may face in balancing their dual roles in providing care for their families.
Having a separate category for Woman Entrepreneur may inspire more women to pursue entrepreneurship, but it’s difficult to measure the impact of this approach. Instead, female entrepreneurs should be judged based on their entrepreneurial qualities and nothing else, and the judges should refuse to judge in such a category. EY should consider dropping the Woman Entrepreneur category altogether for a more inclusive and fair evaluation process.
