Universitas Indonesia (UI) in collaboration with Ochanomizu University, Japan, held an international symposium with the theme “Challenges & Key Empowerment Strategies for Women Leaders in India & Indonesia”. This theme was discussed by presenting three main speakers who are considered to represent the figure of women leaders in their respective fields, namely Dr. Rajashi Gosh (Department Chair of Policy, Organization, & Leadership School of Education Drexel University, United States), Dr. Risantianti Kolopaking (Lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology UIN Syarif Hidayatullah), and drg. Nurtami, Ph.D., Sp,OF(K) (UI Vice Rector for Research and Innovation).
In her presentation, Dr. Rajashi explained the problem of “modern dualism” ascribed to women in India. “The symbol of Goddess Durga with many hands depicts the expectations placed on Indian women. They need to be able to multitask in both the professional and domestic spheres.
Women need to be perfect, both as career women at work, and as good mothers, wives, and children at home. Along the way, it’s an unreasonable expectation and a burden on women,” Dr. Rajashi explains. According to her, these expectations cause many women to experience burn-out and eventually choose to give up their status as career women.
Balancing life between the professional and domestic spheres was also presented by Nurtami in her presentation. As the youngest vice rector at UI, she says that dividing her time, energy, and thoughts has become a skill she has acquired due to work demands and life experiences. Nurtami said that as a leader, a woman should see her femininity as a plus, not a weakness. The empathy, compassion and understanding that characterize women should be emphasized, so that our leadership is based on authenticity, originality to the nature of women themselves.
This value of womanhood also has the potential to be a solution to the nation’s problems. Dr. Risantianti in her presentation explained that the Family Welfare Development (PKK) organization consisting of women can be a link between the world of health and the community. “People will be more open about their health problems if they utilize the community approach through the PKK. The women in the PKK can also be a channel for health education for community members at the urban village, neighborhood association, and community association levels,” she said.
Women, with all their empathy and compassion, can be good teachers for community members, because they will feel more “close”, compared to getting health counseling from health experts who usually use language that is not easily understood by ordinary people.
All of these explanations conclude that the authentic value of womanhood is precisely the added value of women’s leadership. In addition, social constructions related to the role of women in the domestic sphere must also be deconstructed, that men must also have their roles. This is done so that women are no longer constantly burdened with the duality of roles that they have to perform themselves. It is hoped that by doing so, women can have more options to pursue their dreams and aspirations in the professional realm.
In addition to presentations from the main speakers, the symposium, which was held online through the Zoom application on Thursday (16/12), also contained a panel discussion session conducted in parallel to discuss the condition of women’s leadership in the world. The event was opened by Dr. Masako Ishii-Kuntz (Vice President of Ochanomizu University), and Nuning Akhmadi (Wife of the Indonesian Ambassador to Japan). According to Nuning, it is hoped that with this symposium, a public policy recommendation can be born for the community in the context of increasing women’s leadership capacity that synergizes with the latest global conditions.
