The Potential of Women in the Labor Market of the Region

• Main Authors: Shabunova Alexandra A., Popov Andrey V., Solov’eva Tat’yana S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, Vologda Research Center 2017-03-01
• Series: Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast
• Subjects: region; labor potential; gender; women; labor market; inequality; discrimination; segregation
• Online Access: http://esc.vscc.ac.ru/article/2144/full?_lang=en

Participating in labor activity and the situation on the labor market are among the most important aspects of research into the empowerment of women; this research has a significant impact on the implementation of labor potential, and, consequently, on the overall economic development of the territory. However, as global and Russian practice shows, women in the labor market represent a more vulnerable category than men and often face discrimination in relation to wages, career position, employment, etc. Authors of scientific papers usually acknowledge that female population has higher levels of human capital, but they do not go deep into the analysis of its qualitative characteristics. In this context, we performed a study of the labor potential of women in the regional labor market (on the basis of the monitoring data on the quality status of the labor potential in the Vologda Oblast). Our analysis has shown that the values of the majority of basic components of labor potential quality in women are higher than those in men (with the exception of the health index). In addition, the level of implementation of the accumulated potential in women is also higher than the same indicator in men. We substantiate this phenomenon by the existence of gender differences in the attitude toward labor. Compared to men, women tend to have terminal values that are more developed, this is manifested in women’s greater desire to realize themselves in the labor market. As a result, they find employment within their specialty more often, they are focused on getting a stable job that would allow them to utilize their knowledge, abilities and skills to the fullest extent. Despite all this, labor remuneration for women is lower than that for men. One reason for such differentiation lies in gender discrimination in a latent form, which is due to the stereotypes of the position and behavior of women in society. In conclusion, we propose a number of areas to address gender inequality in the labor market