Examining gender mainstreaming in Indonesia: a feminist policy analysis

Regional Indonesia presents an ideal case for researchers to examine women's transition from unpaid informal work to paid formal work. These contexts also highlight how gender mainstreaming occurs or should occur. Male and female employment have shifted from agriculture to manufacturing and service sectors, leading to improved social status, employment conditions, and wages. In Indonesian regional locations such as Gunungkidul and Sleman districts, while the transition is occurring, it is at a much slower pace with regional women being subjected to a range of barriers to paid employment together with a lack of inclusive decision-making processes. The growth opportunities offered by the restructured Indonesian economy have been slow to translate into material gains for women. The existing regional development planning documents in Gunungkidul and Sleman districts note social justice and women's dignity as part of a nation's citizenry. However, in the translation and implementation stages of the development programs, regional policymakers fail to include targeted strategies and mechanisms that would sufficiently address inherent employment equity challenges. The implications for researching regional women's transition to paid, formal work in Indonesian is therefore threefold: 1) policy intentions; 2) policy implementation, monitoring and review; 3) women's agency and capacity to be included in decision making processes.