Gender Stereotypes in Employment for the State Civil Service in the Russian Federation

There is a widespread view in Russian society that the state civil service is considered a stable place to work. Stability is one of the fundamental criteria for choosing a job for young women who, on the one hand, are at the beginning of their career path, and, on the other, intend to meet their need for a family and children. In the framework of the state civil service, stability is expressed in the provision of social guarantees to employees, timely payment of labor, as well as in the ability to return to their previous position after the decree. In addition, women are attracted to the opportunity to participate in politics on an equal basis with men. The active participation of women in professional service activities again proves their interest: women make up more than 70% of all civil servants in Russia. It also confirms the relevance of this area for women that among the graduates of higher educational institutions who received education under the program "Public administration", the number of girls prevails over the number of boys. However, despite the numerically large representation of women in the civil service, the quantitative predominance of women over men does not correspond to the qualitative one. In particular, the senior positions of the state civil service are mainly occupied by male employees, while the majority of women occupy lower-level positions. However, the average age of employees concentrated in senior positions is between 40 and 49 years, while lower-level positions are occupied by the main workforce of up to 30 years. It seems that the observed correlation between the level of the position held in the civil service and the gender and age of the employee is due to the existence of certain barriers that arise in connection with the reproduction of gender stereotypes when young women enter the civil service. For this reason, the purpose of this work is to identify the significance of gender in the selection of personnel for positions in the state civil service of the Russian Federation. To achieve this goal, the paper analyzes key international and state legal acts regulating labor relations for gender sensitivity, then conducts a pilot study in the form of a telephone survey of employees of state authorities, as well as a comparative analysis of gender stereotypes reproduced by the employer in relation to young women and men in the process of selecting employees for the state civil service of the Russian Federation. The results of the study lead to the conclusion that the procedure for selecting personnel to fill vacant positions in the state civil service of the Russian Federation is significantly influenced by the gender characteristic of the applicant. The tasks performed in the course of the work led to the conclusion that gender stereotypes are more likely to apply to young applicants who do not have a lot of work experience, are of reproductive age and/ or may have family responsibilities in addition to workers. The hypothesis about the reproduction of gender stereotypes, which acts as a priority barrier facing young girls when trying to find employment in the public civil service, is confirmed. Ingrained in the consciousness of Russian society, gender stereotypes prevent an objective perception of a woman who wants to work in public authorities, primarily as a potential civil servant, and not as a woman whose primary task is to fulfill family responsibilities. In this regard, it is necessary to gradually overcome traditional gender stereotypes.