The folks behing UM's Gender Studies Programme: (from left) Dr Rusaslina, Dr Vilashini, Dr Lai, Dr Ruhana, Prof Shanthi and Noor Aini. Photo: Handout
It has been about 10 years in the making, but the all-women team behind Universiti Malaya’s Master of Gender Studies (by Coursework) postgraduate course couldn’t be more pleased that the programme has taken off – a sign that the university is headed in the right direction”
"The opportunity to, finally, offer such a Master’s programme is a sign that the university and the country are headed in the right direction. For the Gender Studies Programme (GSP) specifically, it means producing graduates who will spearhead change in their respective communities and countries
"Although you don’t need a Master’s degree to understand that inequality exists between the sexes, the Master’s programme allows students to delve deeper into gender-related issues and use a gender lens (see how men and women are differently impacted) when looking at social, economic, and political life. Dr Vilashini is a senior lecturer of the course along with her peers Dr Lai Suat Yan (Master’s programme coordinator), Prof Dr Shanthi Thambiah, Dr Ruhana Padzil, Dr Rusaslina Idrus and Noor Aini Dochik, administrator for the GSP.
This October will mark a year since the postgraduate course kicked off with an inaugural intake of 24 students, comprising a mix of local and international students. UM is the first local university to offer a Master of Gender Studies by Coursework.
The perspective that the course gives, says Dr Ruhana, is invaluable and may potentially change the way a student views issues and perhaps even life. It certainly did for her.
“In 2007, when I became a lecturer in the Gender Studies Programme, I started to pose questions to myself about the importance of gender studies, both to myself and my students. Gender studies encourages us to think deeply about ourselves as human beings. It creates more awareness about the discrimination and harm that marginalised communities face in our societies. It encouraged me to explore and be more critical about our culture, our society (including the educational system, political and social systems). It made me believe and imagine in the possibility of living in an inclusive society that will be a peaceful place to live in,” she shares.
“Gender studies teaches, or encourages, us to believe in gender equality and to become a more respectful, caring society. It enables us to learn from our past experiences, helps us to understand and to confront experiences and, in time, to transcend and move forward.“I feel that gender studies raises the intellectual tone of society – it creates awareness about gender discrimination and provides a platform to voice our experience and thoughts in different ways; it allows us to embrace our diversity to create a just, equal and democratic society,” says Dr Ruhana, who is the coordinator of the GSP, under the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
Offering a Master’s in gender studies via coursework (a taught programme, as opposed to a research-based one) makes it more accessible to those who are interested in the subject but don’t plan to further their academic pursuit to a PhD or an academic career.
Why gender studies?
A gender studies programme is important and relevant for it exposes students to how women and other marginalised groups are discriminated based on gender norms and stereotypes, points out Prof Shanthi, the deputy coordinator of the GSP.
“Gender studies is an interdisciplinary field of study that explores how gender norms influence the way we see ourselves and each other within a social context.
“It promotes gender equality, and through various courses – identifies what needs to change to move towards a fair and inclusive society.
“It unpacks the complexities of human relationships from a gender perspective across various topics such as gendered violence, sustainable development, migration and the diaspora, the women’s movement, sexuality, politics, work, care, family, masculinity and much more,” she says.
“Knowledge in gender studies and activism can advance gender equality for a just society by opening up public spaces for discussion for the betterment of society and nation,” she adds.
A gender studies programme is important and relevant for it exposes students to how women and other marginalised groups are discriminated based on gender norms and stereotypes. Photo: Dainis Graveris/Unsplash
Dr Lai breaks it down further, explaining that the programme gives students critical thinking skills that employ an inclusive, gendered perspective.
“Having a gender lens is very important when you are doing research, for example. If you want to get a family’s perspective on an issue, traditionally, researchers would only get the opinions of the head of the family, which conventionally is the father.
“His opinion would be used to represent everyone in the family. But what about the other members of the family? What about the mother and the children – they may have differing views.
“A gender lens would also guide the kind of questions we ask. For example, how do we define ‘work’?.
“Traditionally work would mean paid employment – but what about the work women do at home like housework and care work that’s often not accounted for.
“All this is very important in designing policy, strategies and programmes. We study the issues and discuss what kind of policies and social strategies are needed. We also examine the laws and policies and analyse whether they are sensitive to the needs of women and other marginalised groups,” says Dr Lai.
The need for such study is particularly important since the pandemic which has exposed gender inequalities even more.
“What we know about social gaps of inequality from different communities have been amplified in ways we are still trying to make full sense of.
“This course is not unique to Malaysia alone as so many other Global South nations have experienced similar issues, and leaving this to ambivalence does not help solve major societal issues which continue to haunt us in the long run,” says Dr Vilashini.
“The programme has a curriculum that, while world class, speaks to the needs and understanding of students from the Global South, all of whom come into the programme wanting to help solve real world problems.
“The first of its kind in the country, and perhaps even in the region, the programme has the capacity to aid students in developing stronger academic language within the gender studies framework, and also unpack issues plaguing society from different and more inclusive perspectives,” she says.
File photo of the destruction after the tsunami in Balaroa, West Palu, Indonesia's Central Sulawesi in 2018. In the Gender Studies programme, students learn also how there were higher numbers of fatalities among women than men in past tsunamis due to reason such as the gender division of labour, social norms and so on. Future mitigation efforts need to consider this. Photo: AFP
Not just for women
Although the majority of the first batch of students are women, the course is not “only for women”, the academics emphasise.
“When we were designing the programme, we were very conscious of making it appeal to all genders. At its very core, the programme addresses the inequalities in society, and this is mainly on the basis of gender.
“But we all have various social identities apart from our gender: Race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, our abilities/disabilities ... and we examine all of these,” says Dr Lai.
“And while we focus on feminism, we also look at masculinity and address topics like toxic masculinity, as well as subjects that look at the broader impact of gender,” she says, adding that areas examined are gender in politics, the environment, gender issues in contemporarty society, gender mainstreaming and so much more.
Dr Rusaslina addresses another misunderstanding when it comes to gender studies.
“There is a misconception that ‘gender studies’ espouses western values that are not compatible with our local culture. This is not true: issues of rights, opportunities, and equality concern everyone, everywhere,” she says.
“Having a gender perspective is important on so many levels, especially for planners and policy-makers. For example, in our class, we examine how men and women may experience climate change in gender-specific ways.
“To give one example, it has been documented that there were higher numbers of fatalities among women than men during the past tsunami.
“This is related to the gender division of labour (more women stay at home to take care of children and the elderly), social norms (fewer women learned to swim), and opportunities (less access to information, lower income level, poorer housing infrastructure, etc.).
Li Run, a student from Beijing, China, says that she didn't know much about the feminist movements in her country until she started the programme. Photo: Li Run
“Future mitigation efforts need to take all these into account. Similarly for humanitarian intervention or relief efforts, having a gender lens allows for better service delivery in meeting the needs on the ground (such as ensuring privacy and safety for women in temporary shelters, providing nutritional and medical needs for maternal health, and providing menstrual kits for women and girls),” she explains.
Eye-opening learnings
For the students, the course has been eye-opening.
“I always had an interest in feminist literature but I didn’t have a foundation in feminism and so I wanted to strengthen my knowledge in this area. That’s why I enrolled in the Master’s programms,” says Yu Yixu, 28, who is from Weihai, China.
Yixu says the programme has opened her eyes to the situation of South-East Asian women which she's never touched on before. - Yu Yixu“It has opened my eyes to the situation of South-East Asian women which I have never touched on before. It also has allowed me the opportunity to communicate with many local scholars, social workers and my enthusiastic coursemates,” she says.
For Atiqah Aznur, the highlight of the course so far has been the safe space it has offered students to express their opinions and identities without fear of being discriminated against.
“The faculty is made up of people of diverse backgrounds and this is reflected in our dynamic and intellectual discourses.
“The course teaches students how to integrate gender sensitivity and perspective in our daily interactions and in our work or future work,” says Atiqah, a part time student, who works as a copywriter in LeadWomen.
“My work focuses on embedding diversity and inclusivity in Malaysia’s corporate scene, utilising the top-down approach in management consulting. On the other hand, through my postgraduate studies, I am seeing gender from the grassroots level and realising that positive change may only be seen and felt when we consider the voices of the many and marginalised groups and including them in the decision-making processes,” she adds.
he highlight of the course so far has been the safe space it has offered students to express their opinions and identities without fear of being discriminated against. Photo: Atiqah AznurFull-time student Nur Adilla says she joined the programme due of her interest in gender studies and also because she wanted a local and regional perspective on gender issues.
“My readings and exposure to feminism was from Western resources – social media, books, movies, the #MeToo movement, etc.
"But, I’ve also read about how our gendered experience within SEA communities are more equitable compared to other Asian communities and I want to understand this further in an environment that I am not just another ‘specimen’.
“I always felt that way in some of my social sciences classes when I did my undergraduate degree in the United States.
“Now I feel that I am an equal participant as my coursemates share similar backgrounds and are also trying to make sense of our gendered experiences and the issues we face on a daily basis,” says Nur Adilla, 30.
Prior to joining the Master's programme, Nur Adilla said her exposure to feminism was from Western resources. - Nur Adilla
Jayamalar Samuel, 49, is another who was excited to learn of UM’s Master’s programme. As someone who’s worked in civil society groups and on women’s issues, she wants to build on her knowledge in the subject.
“As a person with many years of experience in development work among women and youth, I wanted to strengthen my experiences and skills with academic qualification. Hence I was excited to know that UM was offering a Master of Gender Studies.
“The knowledge I’ve learned so far compliments my experiences on the ground and gives me a holistic understanding of gender.
“In the coming semester, I look forward to learning about gender mainstreaming, sexuality, and women’s political participation so I can be a better citizen and contribute to enhancing gender equality in my work and personal life,” she says.
Jayamalar, with and her son Julian Jayam Thaddeus, 7, hopes the course will make her a better citizen who can contribute to enhancing gender equality at work and in her personal life. Photo: Jayamalar Samuel
Li Run, from Beijing, China, says that she became aware of feminist movements in her own country only after joining the programme.
“Before studying feminism, I thought there was no feminist movement in China.
“But just after my first semester, I realise now that there are various forms of feminist movements in China and they have a long history.
“I’ve also learnt how the women’s movements in the region have been influenced by many factors, like colonial history, religion and geopolitics. I’ve gained a lot from going through the gender studies literature that’s linked to other disciplines like politics and international relations,” says Li Run, 28.
