Higher Education and Career Paths for Young Muslim Women in Indonesia

Siti Nur Aisyah, a student from the Faculty of Education of Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, discovered in her research that education will increase the living conditions and social welfare of Indonesian Muslim women. In her view, this is demonstrated by future partners who have a higher or equivalent level of education.

Higher education permits Indonesian Muslim women to become a new version of themselves, according to the research she conducted on Indonesian Muslim women. She also found that education is the key to raising a better generation of Indonesian Muslims in the future.

She also examined women's roles in motherhood for their children. In this study, she discovers that women who work and become mothers face challenges in becoming good mothers. Women can be mothers while also working without feeling overwhelmed or concerned about repercussions from their surroundings.

Most importantly, in this research, women who work full-time, part-time, combine work with still loving their children, or become housewives will find that higher education will benefit them. This finding is the result of an interview with 14 Muslim female respondents in Indonesia with an age range of 19–33 years using the biographical interpretive method.

Her study includes the representation of two housewives, two undergraduate students and employees, two undergraduate students, two postgraduate students, four employees, and one business owner.

Referring to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2022, the percentage of Indonesian women who finish their college reaches 10.61%, greater than men who reach 9.70%. Furthermore, according to BPS data, this percentage has risen over the last five years. In 2017, the percentage only reached 8.27%. Furthermore, compared to the last 10 years, the percentage of Indonesian women who finished college only reached 6.96%.

However, the Indonesian government still has a lot of homework to do so that its citizens are able to get good education services so that the living conditions and social welfare of its citizen will increase. It is because the main reason women drop out of school is insufficient funds (30,68%), based on the 2017 National Socio-Economic Survey (SUSESNAS). (ANJ)

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