Gender Equality in Science and Technology as a Factor in Professional Careers

Abstract

The characteristics of professional careers in the field of science and technology are examined here from the viewpoint of gender equality and justice in employment. Our  analysis of career research in this field is based on approaches that focus on the structural conditions and contexts of career formation (here we analyze the data up to  March  2020). Modern programs and initiatives in science and technology recognizing gender equality in professional careers at national and international levels are becoming one of the factors of these conditions. In this context, approaches that justify gender equity (the capabilities approach), and issues of positive discrimination in relation to  employment and professional advancement in this area are utilized. We analyze the aspects of managing a scientific career, which, in the biographical narratives of scientists, are recognized and reconsidered as manifestations of gender inequality in the experience of familiarization with programs within the policy of gender equality in scientific activity. The analysis is based on narrative-biographical semi-structured interviews with scientists in the field of natural sciences (N=40, 2018–2019). Assessments of the manifestations of gender inequality pertain to employment, role distribution within a team in accordance with informal norms, and the balancing of professional and family roles. We conclude that with regard to gender inequality in employment in the science, the manifestations of which often go unnoticed, creating opportunities for their examination and assessment by the scientists themselves is relevant and should be regulated by scientific policy instruments. Institutional support for gender equality should happen in conjunction with support for the status and prospects of Russian science in general.