Written By: Sherly Meilianti
May 8, 2020
“It is not important for a woman to pursue a high degree. A woman should stay close to the family and take care of children and family.”
This perception was built up in my family and my social culture, and it challenged me when I wanted to pursue my degree in pharmacy. Living in a small village in Indonesia, I had to fly away from my home town to pursue my pharmacy degree. As the only daughter who never lived far away from my family, it was challenging when I had that perception embedded in my sociocultural tradition. Within my family, I was the only one who pursued a degree in a foreign country, which is around 7,000 miles from my home town. It was not easy to get trust from my family to let me do this, but my dream did not stop me. It even encouraged me to be who I am now.
After graduating as a pharmacist, I worked as the head of the pharmacy department in a private hospital in Indonesia. I supervised more than 20 pharmacists and 50 pharmacy assistants in my department, providing services to patients. Around 90% of the staff were women. There were several occasions when some of them got pregnant or took maternity leave at the same time. This was challenging for our patient service because we did not have enough staff to cover our roles. We sometimes had to work overtime and at the same time train teams newly hired because of our high turnover of staff.
This situation prompted me to understand that having a policy of supporting a flexible career pathway for women pharmacists is crucial. Also, having a structured training programme for early-career practitioners is imperative.
These experiences have led me to what I am doing now. I am currently studying for a PhD through the UCL-FIP Collaborating Centre. My research focuses on the development of frameworks for advanced pharmacy practice and for early-career practitioners in Indonesia. I believe having these frameworks will support early career pharmacists with a clearer career pathway in their journey. Moreover, it will help to build a flexible career pathway, particularly for women after a career break.
In the future, I believe young women need a flexible career workplace and mentoring system to be put in place to support their careers. It is what I have been looking at in my research in collaboration with my national professional organisation, the Indonesian Pharmacists Association (IAI). With support from the IAI, I am hoping that we will be able to provide a clear career pathway journey and support to young practitioners in Indonesia.
A report launched by the Global Health Workforce Network Youth Hub entitled “Youth and decent work in the health and social care sector” found that age and gender discrimination happens everywhere. I believe it is important for us, as young pharmacists and scientists, to advocate for and make gender equity a reality for women in pharmaceutical sciences and education. I am grateful for the leadership role taken by FIP to support the FIP YPG in promoting equity and equality in the pharmacy workforce. We should create more opportunities for young women to evolve in their careers.