Major Assignment

Critical Reading
Summary Response Essay
Nisrina Yumna Khairunnisa
16517219

School of Electrical Engineering and

Informatics
Bandung Institute of Technology
2017
 Gender Bias and Indonesian Education System

Article Source: http://sdgcenter.unpad.ac.id/2016/06/gender-bias-and-indonesian-education-

system/

Aquarini Priyatna.
“No industry or country can reach its full potential until women reach their full potential.” (Sheryl
Sandberg)
Within the legal formal context, Indonesian women have equal rights to the access to education.
However, in practice and in reality, as reflected in the UNDP Human Development Report 2015,
women’s rate of participation to education in all levels is far lower than that of men’s. Indonesian women
lag behind compared to men in the education they complete. Population Census in 2010 shows that the
percentage of women obtaining higher education is only 6.62% compared to 7.12% of men. The latest
report of UNDP in 2015 shows that only 39.9% women actually complete their secondary education
compared to 49.2% of men. This means that roughly only one of three women finishes their secondary
education compared to one of two men obtaining theirs.

While in term of literacy rate Indonesia is doing considerably well with 98.8% for both females and
males, and is doing even better than Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines (UNDP Human Development
Report 2015), Indonesia is only at the 110th place in the category of gender development index.
According to the report, the mean years of schooling for females in Indonesia are merely 7 years
compared to 7.9 for males, making quite a significant gender gap of 0.9 year, which is the largest gap
compared to other ASEAN countries such as Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
Obtainment of higher education also reveals another aspect of gender gap, namely the geographical gap.
The percentage of the population obtaining higher education the urban areas is higher than that of the
rural population while still consistently showing the gender gap between that of females and males in
both areas. In urban areas, 11.20% of male population complete their higher degree education compared
to 10.24% females (National Census 2010). The same tendency is shown in the rural areas where 2.95%
males obtain their higher education compared to 2.9% of the females. In the specific context of higher
degree education, according to Thulstrup and Koswara (2001), there were only twenty five thousand
people having doctoral degree in 2000 (out of the 205 millions of Indonesian population at that time), and
only 15% of them were women.

Various researches, for example the doctoral thesis of Suyanto (2015) and Priyatna (2013), show that
higher education and other academic ventures expose women to a more complex and complicated
situation compared to that faced by their male counterparts. According to Prof. Dr. Arief Rachman of the
Chief of Indonesian National Commission for UNESCO- the Ministry of Education and Culture, citing
the data from the Directorate of Higher Education, only 7% of women graduating from bachelor degree
continues their education to Master’s Degree, and only 3% of those obtaining Master’s Degree continues
to their doctoral degree education. This clearly represents the fact that gender gap is a reality of the
education system in Indonesia.

Susan Blackburn (2007), a prominent Indonesianist, argues that gender issue has not been dealt
adequately in Indonesian education system. She further states that gender biases embedded in the
education system in Indonesia reflect the conservative values endemic among Indonesian people. This
can be translated that Indonesian women are endowed with patriarchal values and norms not only within
the private domain but also in the public domain, including in their efforts to earn their higher degree
education.

As many have pointed out, from Queen Rania of Jordan to Malala the Nobel laureate, education for girls
and women is a highly beneficial venture and its effects are long lasting; that educating a girl means
empowering the whole nation. However, pursuing a higher degree education is a project that may create a
lot of challenges. At times it can even be risky and dangerous. Local values that continue to establish
ideas that women’s place is in the kitchen, in domestic spheres, significantly contribute to the constant
unnecessary challenges to the advancement of women’s education are well-documented by many
researches.

It is thus our collective responsibility to build a more women and girl-friendly education system so as
more girls and women can benefit from higher education, and from education of all kinds. Collectively,
 highly educated women will bring advantages to human development both through their participation in
public arenas and through their work in domestic spheres as wives and mothers of their children.

It is high time that local values that are no longer relevant, manifested in the comments such as “no matter
how high your education is, you will end up in the kitchen”, must be reevaluated and dismissed if
necessary. My previous researches on mothers doing higher degree education shows that women having
the support of the family strove better in undergoing their education. My other research on girls’
experience in college also shows that despite the regulations that treat girls and boys as equal, girls still
face challenges and discrimination both at home and in campus prior to their entering the college and
during the time of the study.

Within the world where patriarchal values sustain, ‘objective competition’ between females and males
may actually be unfair. The fact is in many cases girls and women are still endowed with social and
cultural duties that perceive them as secondary and inferior to men. Girls and women find themselves in
constant efforts to negotiate the different positions they embody. This means the burden a girl and/or a
woman carries during the time of their study is consequently more challenging, some even find it difficult
to resolve. It is important to remember that girls and women who pursue their higher education are they
who, as Robert Frost wrote, take the road “less traveled by”. And as the poem goes, “that has made all
the difference.” After all, education for women and girls is the sine qua non for the advancement of the
nation.

Works Cited

 Blackburn, S. (2007). Indonesia. In S. Joseph, A. Najmabadi, J. Peteet, S. Shami, J. Siapno & J. I.

Smith (Eds.), Women and Islamic Cultures (Vol. IV, Economics, Education, Mobility and Space).
Leiden & Boston: BRILL.
 Priyatna, A. (2013). Negotiating and Rethinking Local Culture: The Narratives of Indonesian Women
Juggling Higher Education, Work, and Domestic Roles. Asian Journal of Women’s Studies, 19(4), 95-
123.
 Thulstrup, E. W., & Koswara, J. (2001). Participation of East Asian Women in Higher Education with
Particular Emphasis on Science Based Fields. The International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
21(1/2), 72-83.

Aquarini Priyatna is a lecturer at Faculty of Arts, Universitas Padjadjaran.

Nisrina Yumna Khairunnisa
16517219

Summary Response Essay

Highly Educated Woman in Indonesia

In an article I found on the internet titled ‘Gender Bias and Indonesian Education System’ Aquarini
Priyatna, lecturer at Faculty of Arts Universitas Pajajaran, explains the contemporary condition of
education in Indonesia that is still biased by gender. Aquarini put some numbers there which show
education for women in Indonesia is still quite left behind than other countries in South East Asia. Based
on the article, a reason that leads to this problem is patriarchal value and norms in the traditional
Indonesia state society. Despite the condition of education in Indonesia, the writer believes there is no
reason why women should not get a higher education and at these days local values like “no matter how
high your education is, you will end up in the kitchen” does not fit anymore because women is not
inferion to men. It is noted that changing this circumstances will require a lot of efforts but it is
worthwhile since highly educated women will benefit human development not only through their
participation in public arenas but also through their work in domestic realm as wives of their husband and
mothers of their children. I agree with Aquarini’s writing because she stated many prudent and research
based rationale especially the statement about the local values in Indonesia and how women in Indonesia
is still considered inferior to men.

The statement in the article that I most agree with is the line about local values that says “no matter
how high your education is, you will end up in the kitchen” is no longer relevant nowadays. Actually yes
it is true that when women have a family they will end up in the kitchen, but not for the most of the day.
Women do not want to spend the rest of their life only for cooking. They have their own dreams and they
can pursue their dreams and educate themselves on the rest of the day. Many women of my family
including my own mother are well educated and they do not ended up cooking in the kitchen for the rest
of their life, they have a good career while still playing the good role as wive and mother. Some women
find being independent whilst pursuing their career and educating themselves is more comfortable and
that is not bad thing. We have our own right to decide what we want to do and what we are going to be in
the future. Globalisation and modernisation mean that traditional modes of living in Indonesia are
changing, and women also are adjusting to new needs and pressures, not only economic pressures, but
also the need to fulfill spiritual and mental needs, such as through pursuing a satisfying career.

Another line that I like about Aquarini’s article is women in Indonesia is still considered inferior to
men, this line is somehow very true. When women are on college we often hear people ask them “When
are you going to be married?” or “Where is your guy?” or “Why get a higher degree? Man will be scared
of you” this questions prove how Indonesian people thinks every women should have a man beside her
and that women can not do what men do. This paradigms is so wrong, why not let women be independent
and be what she wants? Education is very important that it can not be left just for a guy. For example a
helper at my house who lives in a conservative society did not finish her secondary education for
marrying a guy. Few months later the guy ended up leaving her with their baby. How does she get proper
amount of money for a living for her and her baby? She turned out to be a helper at my house. If she had a
better education she would not be a helper at my house and get better amount of salary. This proves that
educated woman is not inferior to men, they can do what men can do like work for a living.

Overall based on searches, the article Aquarini wrote, and my own experince, woman in Indonesia is
still believed not equal and inferior to men especially in education. Women is believed only could have
the responsibility as housewives so education for women is pointless. This doctrine that runs in Indonesia
should be changed, even though it will require a lot of hard work to make the environment especially
theconservative environment to believe in women equality on education. However there are heaps of
rationale why higher education is a necessity in women’s life. This world would be a whole a lot better
better place with the help of women power.