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'The Jakarta Post' Game Changers event breaks barriers, showcasing diverse women leaders
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The Game Changers roster of speakers addresses a question from the audience in the JP Live Space (JP/ Muhammad Zaenuddin)
On May 18, The Jakarta Post held the culmination of its HearHer campaign, The Game Changers Talk Show, at the JP Live Space.
Bringing together a dynamic roster of women in leadership positions from various industries, the event served as a platform to share their experiences and discuss how Indonesia can shatter the glass ceiling to improve gender inclusivity.
Featuring Victoria Aswien, human resources director at Diageo Indonesia; Aninditta Savitry, corporate leader and former columnist at the Post; Galuh “Sasha” Elsa, narrative design lead at Toge Productions; Sakdiyah Ma’ruf, standup comedian; and Shelly Suryadi, human resources director at Deloitte Indonesia; the event was a holistic exchange of ideas, which covered a wide range of industries, highlighting perspectives from the consulting, entertainment and gaming sectors in Indonesia.
The talk show touched upon key statistics regarding gender inclusivity within Indonesian business, detailing how according to the Indonesian Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the proportion of women in managerial positions increased from 22 percent to around 33 percent from 2015 to 2020. But concerningly, the percentages fluctuated to around 32.5 percent in 2021 and 32.6 percent in 2022, which is still a far cry from the global average of 36 percent.
“We don’t really see that fluctuating trend at Deloitte, because the leaders are very supportive toward women. We see our staff as just people, so we eliminate the stigma of women being restricted from certain managerial roles,” said Shelly.
Contrasting this Sasha noted: “The gaming industry in Indonesia is still a very masculine environment. I don’t think there’s a lot of macro-aggression in the industry, but there is a lot of micro-aggression, questions like, 'are you sure you can do this?' 'Are you not on your period?' This is work we have to address.”
Aninditta Savitry recounted her experience in her field. “I remember my work friends saying it's about the value you deliver, because value does not recognize gender. Saving a million dollars for a business, for example, is a valuable contribution, regardless if you’re a man or a woman, that’s the kind of culture that we need to strive toward, because value doesn’t have a gender.”
The discussion then shifted to what changes the speakers would like to see in order to improve the status quo and what developments have been made in their respective industries to drive change.
Regarding this Victoria detailed Diageo’s efforts to improve the status quo.
“We understand that government regulation is quite minimal regarding paternity and maternity leave. So in Diageo we employ 26 weeks of maternity leave and one month of paternity leave. For our women especially, we think that we shouldn’t penalize them for becoming mothers, they can be mothers and achieve their career goals, it shouldn’t be one or the other.”
While Sakdiyah expressed her hopes for the entertainment and creative industry.
“First and foremost we have to remember that this is a shared responsibility. From my point of view as someone who is working with storytelling, it's the task of comedians, journalists, artists and politicians even, to implement collective unlearning and break the current negative prejudices. Those who are working at the narrative level can do so much to help shift the perception.”
Closing the event, Maggie Tiojakin, president and chief revenue officer at the Post, thanked the speakers for their insightful discussion and all of the guests for their participation.
“This has been an amazing experience having you all here, and I just want to say that this type of diverse event, featuring perspectives from varying industries, is our way of championing inclusivity. Continue having these conversations, and expect to see more of these types of events from us”.
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HearHer is a special series from The Jakarta Post that aims to amplify the voices of Indonesian women, shedding light on their achievements, challenges and contributions toward shaping a more inclusive future.
