Factors of the Success of a Professional Career of Russian Women and the Job Satisfaction

The study examines the main factors influencing the probability of occupying a high position of women in modern Russia. The smaller number of families with a traditional division of of household duties increases the importance of women’s career in Russian families. This work aims at identifying changes in women's employment as well as at describing them. The study is based on the results of the analysis of the situation in the late 1990s and early 2000s in Russia published in the work of I. Maltseva and S. Roshchin in 2006, and attempts to map the major determinants influencing the success of women's careers compared with men's, to find out the presence or absence of barriers in the labour market, and to identify the main factors responsible for the positive upward mobility of women. The study was conducted using the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey of HSE for the years 2014 – 2015. The purpose of the study was achieved by identifying the main socio-demographic, economic factors as well as subjective evaluations of job satisfaction of women in different hierarchical positions. The results of the analysis revealed changes in various aspects of female employment, reflecting a gradual weakening of gender stereotypes and expectations. Nevertheless, this work confirms the presence of differences in the factors of success of men and women, as well as the limited prospects of promotion of women up the career ladder, as illustrated in the lower wages, and in smaller significance of human capital compared to men.