Comparative analysis of women’s situation in the area of employment over a period from 1989 through 1999

The proposed project «The impact of economic change on women’s social protection and employment in a monoindustrial city» is a comparative study into women’s position in the area of employment over the last 10 years (1989-1999), using the author’s (E.V.Mashkova, Ph.D.in Economics) records of the previous investigations. The project seeks to study the impact of macroeconomic conditions on employment, social protection and the dynamics of socio-demographic characteristics of women workers; individual strategies for dealing with crisis situations; city businesswomen’s practices; tax and credit encouragement of female private business and businesses creating new jobs for women. The project is of great importance because it will help to work out special measures which would allow equally for all the aspects of women’s situation and would become a major link in a mechanism integrating women in the market system.

The project seems interesting, both theoretically and practically, as a survey of the changes that have occurred in female employment within a single city over a period of 10 years. The issue of employment in a monoindustrial city is specific for all groups of able-bodied population and for women, in particular. The problem of women’s employment presenting a challenge nationwide is yet to be solved. By now a specific female labor market has been formed characterized by a low social status of labor and its remuneration, restricted opportunities of promotion and professional development, a narrow choice of professions, and increased unemployment risks. The situation, however, varies in different regions of Russia, so conducting surveys of this kind seems to be extremely helpful in revealing a general picture.

The fieldwork within the study has been completed by present. A combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis methods was applied which would allow a comparison with the previous findings and the reproduction of a background social context in female employment. Representative sampling in this case is a means to receive a relatively accurate statistical description of morphological characteristics of female employment. The advantages and possibilities of qualitative analysis become obvious in studying rapidly transformed societies, with the investigator in the context of these transformations, for comparing various life’s experiences of people belonging to one and the same social environment. Also conducted was the in-depth interviewing of women who had chosen different life’s strategies to overcome the crisis situation in employment. The method will help reveal the interviewees’ ideas concerning the situation and build a correlation between individual social frameworks (aspiration level, professional identity, alternative roles related to employment) and resources (professional qualification, supporting networks, family). It will also help improve our understanding and describe the process of opting for life’s strategies – when, where, why and by whom. Vast as the choice of works on female employment is, no adequate consideration has so far been given to local investigations, as is the case with the method of verbal story and biographical interview in studying female employment issues. (from the study program).

The findings are scheduled for publication in March of 2002.