Gender Differences in the Subjective Well-Being of Research and Teaching Staff

Abstract

Subjective well-being is a new cognitive-affective indicator of socio-economic success of individuals that affects the effectiveness of their professional activities. The authors of the article investigate this phenomenon in the academic sphere, offering to analyze the gender specifics of the subjective well-being of research and teaching staff. The aim of the study is to compare the subjective well-being of research and teaching staff depending on gender, and to review theoretical approaches to research on subjective well-being. Based on the reflection of the previous stages of the study, the authors developed a methodological construct that includes an assessment of the subjective well-being of the academic staff of Russian universities through the analysis of affective and cognitive components. When developing research tools (online questionnaires), we used the emotional balance scale N. We also used questions from the European social survey (ESS) (measuring the overall perception of happiness and life values) and the VTSIOM monitoring study (self-assessment of financial situation). In the course of the study, the authors determined the specificity of subjective well-being on the basis of gender differences in the academic field that manifest the subjective assessment of affective (emotional balance of positive and negative emotions, subjective assessment of well-being in the context of the current period) and a cognitive component of subjective well-being: the value-rational component (assessment of their freedom, a sense of meaning in life, having goals and activities that define the meaning of life, etc.), goal-rational component (overall rating of quality of life, assessment of socio-economic and political institutions, satisfaction with the professional sphere). The assessment of subjective well-being of academic staff in Russian universities with regard to professional determinants (awareness of the value and purpose of professional activities, the status of the profession in society, the status of the institution, opportunity for professional development, self-development, academic freedom, relations, professional communication, work schedule, sabbaticals, precariatization (reporting, administrative burden).