Dr. F.V. Lany Hartanti, S.Si., M.Si.

• When did you first decide to study and pursue a career in STEM?
  It all started when I liked chemistry since high school, so I liked chemistry because my teacher was very supportive, very fun and very easy to understand so among all science subjects, besides math I really liked chemistry. Then I continued my bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at Brawijaya University after graduating, I worked as a school teacher at Ciputra as a math teacher and briefly as a chemistry teacher, then I decided to continue my studies further by taking a Masters in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Airlangga University and after graduating, I thought that the knowledge I had gained should be developed through various researches that could have an impact on society so I finally decided to join the university as a lecturer.

• What encouraged you to study and pursue a career in STEM?
  Encouragement from my parents was very influential for me in determining my choice of study and career choice, especially my father because since childhood my father always advised that he could not give anything but could only provide a legacy of knowledge, so that is what backed up and encouraged me to be able to pursue learning as high as possible; he was very supportive in any choice of study and also very supportive of me in my choice of study, especially in the field of chemistry both when continuing my studies in S1 and when determining career choices. Another impetus for me to pursue a career in STEM is my desire to develop through various research that can have an impact on society.
• What is the support system for women in pursuing and having a career in STEM in Indonesia?
  Support in the industry needs to be improved, especially in terms of support for women because women today, in the eastern Indonesian environment, still have a dual role, so they are not only developing a career in STEM, but also still have social demands that they also have to succeed in “having a career in the household”, that is, they also play a role as a mother. The industry and government need to think about what can support women to pursue STEM careers. Support can be provided by:
  Providing supportive leave when they become new mothers.
  Thinking about childcare around the work environment so that it can provide flexibility for a young mother who pursues a career in STEM.
  Thinking about the equality of society, especially the male gender workforce, to be continuously educated in order to accept women pursuing careers in STEM.

• What are the key success factors for your career in STEM?
  Some of the key factors, in my opinion, that are important to one’s success including my own achievements to date, of course, come from the influence or education in the family and personal experience. And how I handle the anticipation of challenges or experiences that arise in my life. As my parents have taught me, we must remain consistent and persistent in determining what we want to achieve, how we can find the direction of our goals and focus on them, how we can also bounce back when we face problems and challenges. From my experience, in this case it is the support of my family, where they really provide extraordinary support not in material terms, but in moral support where they always backup me in any case and the choices I have made when pursuing my career to date.
• What tips can you give to women pursuing and working in STEM fields?
  For a career in STEM for a woman, of course I think it takes persistence because of the many challenges faced today. I think not only for women but for all researchers, I focus on researchers because I am in academia. There are still many challenges for a researcher in Indonesia, materials and also the limitations of research tools in Indonesia are quite challenging for researchers for women and men. How can we overcome these challenges? First, we must persistence stay focused on our problems then we also need to be creative by thinking of alternatives to provide tools or research instruments that are simple but can answer our research formulations to overcome the difficulties of procuring instruments or the availability of these facilities and infrastructure.
  In conducting research, we must look at the current time to obtain funding from the government; we must look at the needs or schemes of research. Currently, the Indonesian government divides research into basic research and applied research. And the government is still thinking a lot about applied research. To have a successful career as a researcher, we also need to look at the sources of funding provided by the government, and also need to look at opportunities to collaborate with researchers from outside Indonesia, because that can enrich us, can develop the diversity of research and can bring progress to research works in Indonesia.Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

 

“Dalam melakukan sesuatu, harus tetap konsisten dan gigih dalam menentukan dan mencapai apa yang sudah kita cita-citakan, serta harus bisa menemukan arah tujuan dan fokus pada goals tersebut kemudian selanjutnya bagaimana caranya agar bangkit kembali pada saat menghadapi permasalahan dan tantangan”