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)