Higher Educaton and Socio-Professional Status: Mitigation of Gender Inequalities in Russia

Abstract

As the situation in education and labour market is changing in Russia, characterized by the expansion of services sectors and high participation in higher education, the mechanisms of social inequality reproduction are evolving. According to the intersectionality theory, social advantages and disadvantages are reproduced at the intersection of various social categories – social class, gender and others. In the paper, the outcomes of individuals in education and in the labour market representing three cohorts, born in 1954–1964, 1965–1975 and 1976–1986, were analyzed. Using the data provided by the European Social Survey, rounds 3–6 and 8, the hypotheses about the presence of cumulative effect from the intersection of gender and social class were tested. The results partially confirm the formulated hypotheses in case of achieved socio-professional status, but not in case of achieved higher education. 1) Women have more chances than men to obtain higher education; 2) women from families where fathers were workers have more chances than men from such families to move to the group “lower services class”. The latter positive effect is observed in case social class is specified based on mother’s profession; however, it is not significant. Therefore, women are likely to benefit most from the recent changes in education and labour market, compared to men. However, women are likely to find themselves in less prestigious and less paid segments of the services sector, despite the fact that their jobs require more skills.