BRIDGING THE GENDER EQUALITY GAP – DEVELOPING PRACTICAL FRAMEWORK. EVIDENCE: MULTINATIONALS IN INDONESIA

Abstract Although there are many studies on gender equality, there are limited empirical evidence focusing on the workplace practical implementation. Bringing the context of Indonesia, this article aims to gain insights on how multinational companies (MNCs) applied gender equality policies and practices in the workplaces. The purpose of the study is to investigate the common patterns and to develop a practical framework in implementing gender equality at the workplace. The role of MNCs as global companies bring more advanced level of education, more developed technology, and expectedly also more advanced policies related to gender equality. The study first explored the key drivers of gender equality practices refer to the three pillars of the institutional theory, which are normative, regulatory, and cognitive. In addition, refer to the stakeholder theory, the study discovered patterns of gender equality practices in those multinational companies which intended for two categories of stakeholders which are internal stakeholder (employees) and external stakeholder (public). Based on the findings, this study developed a practical framework consists of three elements, i.e., Internal practices affecting employees at the workplace, External practices through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs, and the last element is other supporting factors that are also having influence towards the implementation of gender equality. This study concludes that such framework can be used as practical guidance for organizations to implement gender equality at their workplace