Gender Equality by Educating & Empowering Girls Around Us
No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens. — Michelle Obama
Quality of Life defines as an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns (WHO, 2012). Many factors affect the quality of life and one of them is education. Education holds a vital role in elevating skilled human resources.
The importance of education to elevate one’s life quality
Every individual has the right to obtain a learning process to increase their value and competence. Therefore, every human being has the right to be educated. Theoretically, education has the meaning of teaching. But often the scope of this understanding of teaching is limited to formal education. Wherever, whatever, and whoever teaches it can be called an education. Aside from improving the quality of life, education is also important in how it can escalate one’s financial status. This can be proven by real cases of how a low level of education has an impact on the high rate of child marriage in Indonesia which often causes various negative consequences, one of which is structural poverty.
Isn’t it ironic how a mother is the first teacher for the child, therefore having extensive knowledge is a good thing for the development of children’s skills and abilities but yet, their opportunities to receive an equal education are often limited by systems that mostly made by groups of men who were spending less time with their own family, especially their children.
The rocky road of being educated women
The problem of gender inequality in the education sector is rooted in social values and strong patriarchal culture in Indonesia. The disparity that exists between women and men, especially in the education sector, has an impact on the difficulty of finding a job — not only according to their dreams but also finding work in general for women. This problem also affects the low labour force participation rate of women in Indonesia, namely 51.88% compared to men’s labour force participation of 82.69% (2018 BPS data). This is unfortunate because according to the Ministry of National Development Planning of the Republic of Indonesia study if the labour force participation for women is increased to 64%, there will be 20 million new semi-skilled and skilled workforce which will boost Indonesia’s economic growth rate.
As a gender group that is often marginalized, in the education sector without exception, various efforts have been made by Indonesian women to combat these limitations. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia has a policy analysis that discusses gender equality in education in Indonesia in the context of realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiated by the United Nations. The government understands that granting access alone is not the same as educational outcomes. Gender responsiveness of curriculum, textbooks, learning materials, learning environment, and educational outcomes is an aspect of gender equality in education. This is realized through the Ministry of Education and Culture’s policies and programs, namely the use of symbols and illustrations that do not show discrimination to create an educational environment that is more gender-responsive and inclusive. Gender equality in education also includes the educational experience of girls and boys in terms of equal and fair treatment by teachers.
Socio-cultural values and gender stereotypes can also widen the gap in equality in supporting access to education. For example, due to gender perceptions and stereotypes regarding differences in “talent” between men and women, men tend to dominate science and technology academic disciplines and women are encouraged to pursue careers in administration, education, public health, and other alike disciplines that are considered feminine even though there is no inherent difference in the capabilities of men and women. Under conditions of fair and equal learning, both can perform equally well. Another clear example of the impact of gender role stereotypes that are rooted in Indonesia’s society is the burden of expectations to start a family soon. Women who can pursue education and have brilliant career paths are often faced with the threat of difficulty getting a partner because men tend to feel intimidated, and how later all these achievements will be in vain because of the paradigm that a woman should take care of all household matters. Not to mention that when a woman has a career, her role multiplies. As a wife, mother, and worker. These things are a form of construction of a patriarchal society that we must face together. Because according to the author, women are the embodiment of love, power, greatness, and intelligence.
Empowered women empower women
The high development rate of the women’s emancipation movement and the level of awareness of the Indonesian people on gender equality is a breath of fresh air amidst the weakening of women’s enthusiasm to fight for their rights in a patriarchal environment. Now there are many movements on how women can become leaders and decision-makers. However, knowing the root causes of why women cannot reach or gain access to be empowered is no less important.
Empowered women are defined as women who can make their own choices. Women who are at C-level are women who are empowered, as well as women who do household chores, as long as all decisions are based on their desires. Viewed from an optimistic perspective, now many women have gained access to enter into a system, participate, have control, and benefit from the gender equality movement. With the hope of creating a domino effect, empowered women must play a role in creating wider participation spaces for other women so that all of them can benefit and help them gain access, such as providing training to add skills that are useful in increasing women’s chances of getting decent work. It should be remembered that not only women, men must also be educated about gender equality. This is based on the fact that men are still the majority decision-making group in Indonesian society.
No changes happen instantly. With the constant commitment to realizing gender equality, various components of society work hand in hand to create a better world because gender equality is not only a fundamental human right but also a prerequisite for a peaceful, prosperous and lasting world.
