Experience of Female Cadres in KMHDI Organizations (Kesatuan Mahasiswa Hindu Dharma Indonesia)

Abstract

This study was motivated by the diverse experiences of female cadres in their organizational lives within the Kesatuan Mahasiswa Hindu Dharma Indonesia (KMHDI), which were shaped by their backgrounds, social interactions, and meaning-making processes amid the continued limited representation of women in organizational leadership. This study aimed to understand the experiences of female cadres within KMHDI and analyze the meanings they attributed to these experiences, their motives for action, and the relationships among habitus, capital, and the organizational field. The study employed a qualitative approach using Alfred Schutz's social phenomenology as the primary theoretical perspective and Pierre Bourdieu's Theory of Practice as a supporting framework. Informants were selected through purposive sampling and consisted of one key informant and nine female cadres. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation and analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological analysis method. The findings showed that the experiences of female cadres were understood through the concepts of lifeworld, stock of knowledge, intersubjectivity, because-motives, and in-order-to motives. These experiences generated new meanings that encouraged greater confidence in expressing opinions, participation in decision-making, readiness to assume responsibility, and the strengthening of social networks. From Bourdieu's perspective, these experiences were associated with the formation of habitus and the accumulation of cultural, social, and symbolic capital, which were manifested in organizational practices within the field. The study concluded that the experiences of female cadres constituted a dynamic process of experiencing, meaning-making, and acting that contributed to strengthening women's participation within KMHDI.