The Laboratory for Comparative Social Research announces the next regular seminar, which will be held as a zoom session on December, 1 at 04:30 p.m. (02:30 p.m. CET). Natalia Soboleva (LCSR HSE, Russia) will deliver a report "The Gender Value Gap: Evidence from the World Values Survey". Co-authors of the research are Plamen Akaliyski (University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain) and Michael Minkov (LCSR HSE, Russia; Varna University of Management, Bulgaria).

Substantial differences in gender equality exist across the world today. Although gender equality generally increases in many countries, large behavioral differences between men and women persist. This concerns labor market, political leadership, division of household labor, etc. As values are important determinants of behavior, revealing the differences in values between men and women – ‘the gender value gap’ – can contribute to understanding differences in behavior and societal gender inequality. The study aims at identifying the patterns of gender gaps in two value dimensions – individual freedom and gender equality – and finding the mechanisms explaining these gaps. Two theoretical perspectives compete for predicting the gender value gap across societies. According to social role theory (SRT) and the institutional approach, institutions and social policies influence male and female values and consequently leading to a smaller gender value gap in wealthier countries and in countries with more gender-equal institutions. Conversely, the gender equality-personality paradox (GEPP) perspective and post-materialist theory claim that more gender-equal and wealthy countries offer individuals more freedom to express gender-specific preferences, thus decreasing the gender value gap. To test these theories, we analyze the last three waves of the World Values Survey (2005-2009, 2010-2014, 2017-2022) using multilevel regression modeling. We find that women hold more progressive values on both values. However, the tendencies differ across countries’ macro-level characteristics. In support of SRT and the institutional approach, the gender gap in gender equality is lower in wealthier and more gender-equal countries. In contrast, the gender gap in individual freedom is higher in wealthier and more gender equal countries, which supports GEPP and post-materialist theory. These results suggest that societal value change may exhibit gender specific dynamics as women could be the first to adopt more progressive values.

Everyone interested is invited!

Working language is English.