Career women face many challenges

Career women face many challenges

Today's women are becoming more liberated -- they know what
they want and many do not hesitate to express themselves, thanks
to R.A. Kartini (1879-1904). She was declared a national heroine
of emancipation in 1964, and since then her birthday, April 21,
has been celebrated as Kartini Day. Indonesia has many female
executives, but this does not mean that women are fully
emancipated. Women who focus on their careers also have to face
the consequences of their choice. The Jakarta Post's team of
reporters, T. Sima Gunawan, Sugianto Tandra, Ridwan M. Sijabat,
Stevie Emilia, Hyginus Hardoyo, Imanuddin, Benget Simbolon,
Meidyatama Suryodiningrat and photographer Arief Suhardiman, look
into the issue. More stories are printed on Pages 7
and 13.

JAKARTA (JP): The couple are both lawyers. Lelyana Santosa
leaves for work at 8 a.m. and returns at about 7 p.m. Her
husband, Mas Achmad Santosa, leaves at the same time, but always
gets home later. Their only child, an eight-year-old boy, is in a
nanny's care.

The Santosas are one of today's young couples who work outside
the home. What makes them different from many others, is that she
makes more money than he does.

"To be frank, Lely's income is much better than mine," Achmad
told The Jakarta Post.

That is not surprising. She is a partner at Lubis, Santosa and
Maulana, one of the city's prestigious law firms, while he is
Executive Director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental
Law, a non-governmental organization.

Santosa is aware that not many people accept the idea of a
woman earning more than her husband. He said he did not see it as
a problem, but added: "One day I might quit and look for a job
with a better salary because, you know, in the long run my
relatives might talk about us behind my back."

It goes without saying that more men than women make the big
bucks. But it is undeniable that over the past few years there
has been an increase in the number of successful women
executives. Warta Ekonomi weekly reported last August, that women
made up about 10 percent of the best-paid 225 executives in the
country. Yes, they have cracked the glass ceiling! Two of them
were even listed in the top 10. Eva Rianti Hutapea, a director at
Indofood Sukses Makmur, was sixth and Rini M.S. Suwandi was
seventh. Each of them made more than Rp 1.2 billion (US$521,000)
in 1995, including bonuses.

In the United States, their counterparts make much more. Check
this out: Linda Wachner, who heads two large publicly held firms
simultaneously, receives an annual salary of $2.47 million from
the Warnaco Group, and $975,000 million from Authentic Fitness,
according to January's issue of Working Woman. In addition, she
receives awards and bonuses of more than $12 million. The second
best-paid executive, Jill Barad, CEO of Mattel, earns $786,546,
and a total compensation of $6.17 million.

Women who are successful in their careers are not
automatically successful in their marriages as well. Marriages in
which the woman earns more than the man can be fragile if this
causes him to suffer a feeling of inferiority -- a factor that
can rock a marriage, said Naek L. Tobing, a sexologist and
psychiatrist.

The children might suffer too if their mothers do not pay
enough attention to the family, or mix problems at work with ones
at home. Psychologist Utami Munandar reminds working mothers not
to mix home and work problems. They should intensify personal
communication with the children, especially those under five, to
help their personality development, and make the most of any
opportunity to give their children attention when they are at
home.

Yet, the number of women working outside the home is
constantly increasing.

Of the over 200 million people in Indonesia, more than 2.82
million women made up 35.3 percent of the 7.99 million workers
last year. By the end of the government's sixth five-year
development plan in 1999, women are expected to make up 53.1
percent of the work force.

In the lower classes, women have to work or their families
would suffer. But the middle to upper classes might frown upon
women who build careers outside the home.

Kustiono, 45, a graduate of Bandung Institute of Technology
and works at a state-owned company, believes a woman's place is
in the home.

"I won't allow my wife to work outside the home. I have a good
job and I earn enough to feed my family. What's important for her
is taking care of our son and our home. He needs his mother a
lot," he told the Post.

His wife, Lita, 38, is a graduate of University of
Padjadjaran, Bandung. She worked as an English instructor at the
university, and a language consultant at an international
institution, before becoming a full-time housewife. She quit work
10 years ago after having a baby.

"In the first five years, it was okay with me. But now I am
really bored. I want to work again but I don't know how to start.
Besides, my husband does not like the idea," said Lita.

The fact that not all men are happy to see their wives working
might motivate some career women to put marriage on hold. The
trend, long established in the West, is also felt here.

Conservative

Wardah Hafidz, a feminist, said there were several reasons men
did not like to see women working. The most conservative men,
like Kustiono, believe that working women go against their kodrat
(destiny). Others say that mothers who work outside the home have
less time for their children, which could negatively affect their
children's development. There are also men who say working women
"steal" men's jobs, and increase unemployment.

"Some people also believe there are more extra-marital affairs
as a consequence of the increasing number of working women," she
said.

Different opinions about women working outside the house can
result in marriage conflict or even domestic violence, she said.

Can a woman build a successful career without family support?
There is a motto: 'There is a woman behind a successful man' this
could be applied vice versa.

But Darmanto Jatman, a sociopsychologist from University of
Diponegoro, Semarang, does not entirely agree. He said: "In
reality, we can't prove that a successful man always gets support
from his wife or the other around."

Even though a husband's support might not be a key factor in a
woman's successful career, it is obviously crucial in a happy
marriage. (team)