Gender Asymmetry in the Government Structure and the Problem of Women's Representation in the Position of the Head of State

All over the world female heads of government remain scarce. Many researchers define this phenomenon as “a symptom” of bigger gender inequalities − both social and economic. Despite the significant number of studies on the topic of gender asymmetry across the globe and Russia in particular, there is a recognized gap in the literature regarding the reasoning for it and a methodology to improve the current situation with gender issues. This paper considers the options for eliminating imperfections of Russian gender policy, based on successful examples from different countries of the world, and develops a system of obstacles why women rarely hold the presidency, ministerial portfolios or the other high-ranking political office. The research purpose will be achieved through analyzing the previous investigations and the legislative literature, combining the numerical results from multiple studies as well as conducting a cross-country analysis. The results will indicate that certain aspects of the Russian gender asymmetry issue are difficult to be fixed based on the experience of specific countries, due to the peculiarities of Russian realities, accompanied, for example, by the firmly established stereotypes or the political culture of society and beyond. However, some practices will probably be suggested to be tested. The implications for future research and the relevance of the findings for public administrators are discussed.