Experts says science is male dominated

Experts says science is male dominated

JAKARTA (JP): Science and technology is still essentially a
man's world, at least in Indonesia, an expert said yesterday.

Jajah Koswara, a senior official of the Ministry of Education
and Culture, said the various decision-making and advisory boards
in the sciences and technology community are still dominated by
men.

She said the few women scientists in Indonesia are less
competent than their male couterparts, largely because of their
three careers, as scientists, as housewives and mothers.

"Women have to raise their children before they can
concentrate fully on their career. Men begin their career at the
age of 25, but women start later, at the age of 30 or 35," Jajah,
who is director for the ministry's institute of supervision,
research for dedication to society, told reporters.

She was speaking during a break at a three-day International
Workshop on Women and Technology in Southeast Asia and the
Pacific. The meeting was organized by the Indonesian Institute
for Sciences (LIPI) and the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO).

Jajah said another problem facing women in general is their
low level of education compared to men.

She added that, as far as she knew, there was no
discrimination against women in the science and technology
community, when it comes to positions and pay.

Discrimination is more likely to affect women with a poor
education background, she said.

Endang Setyawati, a researcher at the Ministry of Agriculture,
also said that science and technology is still largely a male-
dominated sector for the simple reason that more men are
attending universities than women.

In Indonesia there are twice as many male university graduates
as female, she said.

The illiteracy rate also reflected the gender bias of the
education system in Indonesia, according to Endang. In rural
areas, 22 percent of women and 11 percent of men are illiterate
while in urban areas, nine percent of women and three percent of
men are illiterate.

UNESCO's chief representative in Indonesia, Stephen Hill,
noticed the lack of attention paid to the issues of women's
participation in the field of technology users and the particular
effects of technology upon women in Southeast Asia.

"It is timely that the role of women within this changing of
technological order should be made visible and brought to the
center stage of development planning," he said.

Other speakers of the workshop include Lilya O. Ramos from the
Philippines, Anni Dugdale and Judy Wajcman from Australia, Bang
Jee Chun from South Korea, Goh Sing Yau from Malaysia, Le Thi Quy
from Vietnam, Tippawan Manond from Thailand, Pan Jintang from
China. (31)