Women moving forward to get better careers

JAKARTA (JP): The discrimination against women in the work place often begins even before the women are recruited. Take a look at some of the job placement ads in newspapers.

Many ads on job openings are made with gender requirements. They might state explicitly in the ads that they want to hire female secretaries, customer service officers or tellers. On the other hands, career opportunities for engineers, managers or directors are exclusively offered to men.

Fennie Samudra, public relations manager for the Modern Group, said companies prefer to hire women to fill the lower positions of public relations officers and men for top positions.

"Actually they (the Modern Group) wanted a man, but I sent my application because I knew I was qualified for the job," Fennie, a graduate of the University of New South Wales, told The Jakarta Post.

As she was able to prove her qualifications, Fennie has faced no gender problems at the office so far.

"I don't see any glass ceilings at my work place," the 27-year-old woman said, adding that there were a number of female managers and directors in the 32 companies under Modern Group's management.

She enjoys her work and believes that taking paid-jobs would help women release themselves from their dependency on men.

Indri Gessa, director of Indo Pacific Property, said that there is now greater opportunities for women to build their careers. "The 1990s are much more different from the 1970s. Women have more opportunities to work and hold managerial positions," she said.

Local companies with modern management as well as foreign firms have opened the door wide for women, she added. "The main obstacle is in the women themselves," Indri pointed out.

Women should not be satisfied with clerical jobs but try to move forward for a better career, she said.

Since she was a girl Indri has learned how to be strong. She said she grew up among boys and most of her friends were those of the opposite sex, who taught her to be tough, aggressive and independent.

The mother of three, Indri realized that a working woman who is married often faces problems which result from the lack of family support. A lot of men do not allow women to pursue a better career as they are afraid that the women would neglect the family.

"The Eastern values require us to serve our husbands and the families. Half of our body belongs to them," she said.

Despite her busy activities as a director of a robust company, Indri has the responsibility of the household chores as well as the education of her children. Even though she does not do the domestic work herself, she must make sure everything runs well.

Indri said she spends between 10 to 15 minutes of her lunch time calling home to talk to the children and check on things.

"A few days ago my husband complained that he did not like the meals being served. So I hired a new cook who could make his favorite dishes," she said.

It would be good if husbands shared the household chores, otherwise, the woman have to do it by themselves, Indri said. It would not be difficult to do if women had the will, she said, adding that women should be tough.

Maria Hartiningsih, a senior reporter from Kompas daily, said that the relegation of women to the domestic sector is one of the factors hampering the emancipation of women. She lamented over the condition where women are still considered as pendamping (supporters) of the husbands.

"If you are a diplomat (female) married to a diplomat, and your husband is assigned to hold a post in another country, you have to follow him as a pendamping," she said.

Maria, who started her career as a reporter 10 years ago, said there has not been much improvement for the conditions of women in the country under the New Order government.

She noted that in the regime of Sukarno, women played a bigger role in politics. There were women in the ministerial cabinet, holding more strategic posts such as the minister of labor, the minister of social affairs and minister of basic education and culture.

"Perwari (Association of Women of the Republic of Indonesia) dared to stage an anti-polygamy demonstration against Sukarno when he wanted to marry again, while still married to the first wife," she said.

Indonesia now has two female ministers: Endang Kusuma Inten Suweno, the Minister of Social Services, and Mien Sugandhi, the Minister of Women's Role. (sim)