Dynamics of the gender structure of teaching staff in modern Russia

¹ Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Department of Sociology, Moscow, Russia
² Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Faculty of Social Sciences and Mass Communications, Moscow, Russia
³ National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek, Department of Philosophy and Fundamentals of Spirituality, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

^* Corresponding author: lbrushkova@fa.ru

Abstract

The subject of the article is the dynamics of the gender structure of university staff in modern Russia. The purpose of the article is to reveal the changes that have occurred in the gender structure of university teachers over the past 20 years. Research methods include the analysis of statistical and sociological data, cross-tabulation and calculation of the feminization index. The authors note that over the twenty-year period, the feminization of Russian universities has intensified. It captures increasingly higher levels of the university job hierarchy, which is manifested in an increase in the number of women in the positions of associate professors, professors, heads of departments, vice-rectors, etc. The significant predominance of women in the positions of assistants, teachers and senior teachers is the basis for the further feminization of university staff in Russia. The analysis of the gender structure of postgraduate and doctoral students shows that women lag behind men only in the youngest age categories of postgraduate students (up to 27 years old) and doctoral students (up to 39 years old) and the oldest category of doctoral students (over 60 years old). This is explained by the fact that at these ages, women are likely to perform their reproductive and educational functions. Women dominate in all other age cohorts of postgraduate and doctoral students. The authors conclude that, despite the existing manifestations of discrimination against women in higher education (gender pay gap, low representation of women at the highest level of university administration, the glass ceiling effect in promoting women up the career ladder, etc.) In general, women are making progress in higher education, making the industry increasingly feminized.