Gender inequality in Russian Academia: dynamics, insights, and explanations

Abstract

While operating under different names, both Europe and Russia are currently going through a period of social change in academia. Europe is pursuing reforms and transformation of academia in the context of the New Public Management, while Russia operates in similar settings of modernization, thus addressing excellence and effectiveness of academic work. In both cases, the processes underlying social change in academia result in a similar impact on female scholars' occupational advancement. By doing so, they reproduce the existing gender inequalities and create new ones. Russia finds itself in a paradoxical situation: while women represent the majority of (scientific) staff in academia, they face persistent discrimination at the hands of their colleagues - both male and female. Still, our knowledge of gender disparities and discrimination in Russian academia is fragmented and needs extensive investigation. In order to establish the necessary foundation for further systematic analysis, this paper aims to reduce the existing gap by examining gender inequalities from a historical perspective.