(IPS) feature

Being a successful scientist can put immense pressure on anyone, but that is not really why National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology researcher Nguyen Thu Van is unable to relax even at home.

Van and her team produce drinkable cholera vaccines, which have saved Vietnam millions of US dollars since it no longer has to import such drugs. ''This makes eight years of hard work in the laboratory from 8am to 6pm all seem worthwhile, '' says the 39-year-old mother of two.

She adds that her husband and children help her with the housework so that she can devote more time to her job. ''I am lucky to get support from my husband, who is also a doctor at the 103 Military Hospital,'' Van says, smiling. ''He is a good shoulder for me to rely on.''

Yet she confesses that she suffers from pangs of guilt. Says Van: ''I feel frustrated for having not carrying out completely my duties (as wife and mother).''

Van's dilemma may sound familiar to married career women in other parts of the world. But sociologists here say Vietnamese women seem to be feeling the pull of home a bit harder because while gender roles have shifted radically in recent years of openness and market reform, the gender stereotypes and values of ancient times persist.

''The present roles for women in Vietnam conflict with traditional gender stereotypes and gender values, causing mental anguish and confusion amongst the country's women and making their lives more difficult than before,'' observes sociologist Tran Dinh, who has done a study on the modern Vietnamese woman.

This seems especially true here in the south, where traditional thinking still dominates.

Physically weak

According to Dinh's research, which was completed last year, the woman here is still someone thought to be physically weak and stays at home, care primarily for her family and submits to her husband in all significant decisions.

In contrast, in the north, where the Communist Party has a longer history, women and men are more used in sharing tasks and seeing each other as equals.

After all, the Communist Party has always stressed the emancipation of women. In wartime, women are encouraged to take part in the struggle. In peacetime, women are expected to participate actively in ''social construction''.

Observers say, though, that once the Northerners move down here, they also start seeing women in the same light as their southern counterparts.

From north to south, however, women are taking an increasingly important economic role, clinching crucial posts in both public and private sectors and spending more time away from home.

Or as Dinh puts it: ''While ancient ideals and concepts continue to influence people's thinking about women, the real lives of women have changed profoundly.''

This is despite legal restrictions and social discrimination that continue to hinder women in the workplace.

Several studies, for instance, have shown that women entrepreneurs receive less training than their male counterparts, have less access to financial and technological resources, few market connections and information on business opportunities.

In the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) where the presence of women is on the rise, nearly 40 percent of the businesswomen have not received any training, and only 14 percent have ever received short-term vocational training.

Nearly 40 percent of them have not completed secondary education. Only around 19 percent have completed elementary education, 8.36 percent intermediate education and 5.4 percent acquired university degrees.

Extra pressure

The bad news is that many Vietnamese women who have been moving up despite such odds do not seem to be coping well with the changes that have enabled them to secure a better financial future for themselves and their families, and sometimes earning them incomes that are higher than those of their spouses.

Indeed, they may make important decisions in the workplace, where they may even be the boss. Yet sociologists say Vietnamese women have not found it easy to shake off the notion that it is their duty to do all the domestic work - childcare, cooking, shopping, washing - once they get home.

Most times, they put extra pressure on themselves to fulfill every domestic task that they think is expected of them.

Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet, for instance, is a typical example of this new breed of Vietnamese 'superwomen'. Only 34-years-old, Nguyet is the director and creative manager of a ceramics firm in Song Be province, some 30km from here, and spends much of the day there.

Upon getting home, however, she still has to do the cooking, look after the baby and perform other domestic duties. She figures she spends some four hours after work getting her home in order.

''I feel tired but I always try to finish the housework,'' she admits. But she insists, ''It's fulfilling my obligations and that makes me happy.''