Indonesian Women in Public Service Leadership: A Rapid Review

Helen McLaren, Cassandra Star and Ida Widianingsih
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Helen McLaren: College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia
Cassandra Star: College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia
Ida Widianingsih: Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jawa Barat 45363, Indonesia

Social Sciences, 2019, vol. 8, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Masculinist contours have legitimized male domination in Indonesia’s upper public service ranks. However, some women have managed to crack the glass ceiling. A systematic search was undertaken of seven academic databases and the Google Scholar search engine to identify facilitative features of women’s career advancement through Indonesia’s echelon ranks. Fourteen articles, representing nine studies, were identified. While policy initiatives exist to increase women’s representation and career advancement, studies consistently identified little application to practice. Patterns across the studies located women’s career advancement as an individual concern and showed that women wanting careers were expected to manage the double burden of productive and reproductive life, obtain permissions from husbands and extended family, and adopt masculine leadership traits to garner colleagues’ support. Barriers frequently outweigh opportunities for career advancement; these including entrenched homo-sociability asserting that men make better leaders. Consequently, the blocking of women’s opportunities invoked personal disappointments, resulting in women’s public denial of their leadership ambitions.

Keywords: Indonesia; women; leadership; public service; civil service (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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