UNS – Lecturer interdisciplinary team from Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta has succeeded in winning the “Global Equality Partnership” grant from the British Council. The team members participating in this research program are Dr. Erna Dyah Kusumawati, S.H., M.Hum., LL.M. and Rachma Indriyani, S.H., LL.M., Ph.D. from the Faculty of Law (FH), Dewanti Cahyaningsih, SE., M.Rech. from the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Likha Sari Anggreni, S.Sos., M.Soc.Sc. and Monika Sri Yuliarti, S.Sos., M.Si. from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP). Additionally, there are representatives from Aston University, namely Professor Hannah Bartlett (Lead Applicant) and Claire Richard.

When contacted by uns.ac.id, Dr. Erna Dyah Kusumawati, S.H., M.Hum., LL.M., the head of the research team, mentioned that this research program is funded by the British Council.

“For gender equality, especially in Indonesia, funded by the British Council, there are 11 collaborations, and fortunately, UNS is one of them. Each project receives £25,000, so around 480-490 million Indonesian Rupiah,” Dr. Erna explained.

Regarding the research fund, Dr. Erna mentioned that the fund is managed by Aston University and will later be disbursed to the research team in Indonesia.

The Going Global Partnership program is organized to strengthen university collaborations between the UK and other countries.

“This program indeed supports universities worldwide to collaborate towards higher education that is more connected, stronger, fairer, and more inclusive,” Erna said.

This research team has chosen the theme of gender equality partnership with the title ‘Addressing Gender Gap Within Female University Graduates In Entering Industries: An Economic, Cultural, And Legal Approach‘. This title was chosen because of the observed gap between female university graduates and their job opportunities, coupled with the finding that female labor force participation in Indonesia is lower.

“This gap is what we want to investigate. The subjects we will listen to are female lecturers, staff, students, and also users or consumers of female graduates. These users are important to assess the achievements or performance of female graduates from this university in their respective companies,” Dr. Erna explained.

The sustainability of this research or study lies in providing training for female university graduates to prepare them for entering the workforce.

“After that, we will design training programs, whether it’s leadership or gender equality for female university graduates so that they will be better prepared when entering the industry with its various challenges. That’s the basic idea of our proposal,” she added.

HUMAS UNS