Behind the Dilemma of Family or Career, Retno Marsudi: Women Can Choose Both

Women can grow through many paths. Through education, work, family, and even small spaces that give them the courage to try new things.

When given the right opportunities and support, women can develop in the fields they enjoy, even surpassing the boundaries often attached to them.

However, that journey is not always easy. Not all women have a safe space to learn, fail, and rise again.

Even, women are often faced with demands to choose, and not infrequently have to sacrifice one important part of their life, between family or career.

“We women are always faced with the question when we are adults, when we have finished school, graduated from university, graduated from school. We get so many questions, do you choose a career or choose family? I always ask first, is that question also asked to men? Never.”

That statement depicts a reality that is still close to many women today, namely life choices that are often narrowed into two poles, as if career and family cannot go hand in hand.

In fact, Retno’s life experience shows the opposite.

“I work in a profession dominated by men. So when I joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, female diplomats were at most only 10 percent,” said Retno.

In such a professional space, work pressure comes without time limits.

“For diplomats, working has no space limits, no time limits,” Retno revealed.

In the midst of a tough work environment, she felt the need to prove that women are capable of carrying out professional roles without having to let go of their personal lives.

“I want to prove, once again not separate from my background, that if not me, no one can change our lives.”

That experience became even more real when she had to carry out the role as a mother as well as a professional. When her children were still young, her days were filled with quick shifts between home, school, and office.