FACTORS IMPACT ON WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN THE WORKFORCE IN KAZAKHSTAN

ABSTRACT

"Gender Norms and Labor Supply in Kazakhstan: Evidence from the World Value Survey" investigates the relationship between gender norms and female labor force participation in Kazakhstan. The study utilizes data from the World Value Survey (WVS) to examine how traditional gender norms and cultural beliefs influence the participation of women in the labor force. Binary logistics regression model to analyze the data and evaluate that the traditional norms have a negative impact on women's participation in the workforce in Kazakhstan. Particularly, women with strong traditional beliefs are less likely to participate in the workforce. The research also indicates that urban residency and education have an influence on women's participation in the workforce. Policymakers should establish policies to enhance gender quality and encourage the participation of women in labor. Future prospects of the study show that there should be an increase in education access and the provision of incentives for the purposes of retaining and hiring women.

АННОТАЦИЯ

"Гендерные нормы и предложение рабочей силы в Казахстане: данные the World Value Survey" исследует взаимосвязь между гендерными нормами и участием женщин в рабочей силе в Казахстане. В исследовании используются данные the World Value Survey (WVS), чтобы изучить, как традиционные гендерные нормы и культурные убеждения влияют на участие женщин в рабочей силе. Модель бинарной логистической регрессии для анализа данных и оценки того, что традиционные нормы оказывают негативное влияние на участие женщин в рабочей силе в Казахстане. В частности, женщины с сильными традиционными убеждениями менее склонны к участию в рабочей силе. Исследование также показывает, что проживание в городах и образование оказывают влияние на участие женщин в рабочей силе. Директивным органам следует разработать политику, направленную на повышение гендерного качества и поощрение участия женщин в трудовой деятельности. Будущие перспективы исследования показывают, что необходимо расширить доступ к образованию и создать стимулы для удержания и найма женщин.

Keywords: Gender norms, labor supply, world value survey, binary logistic regression, gender equality, and education.

Ключевые слова: гендерные нормы, предложение рабочей силы, исследование мировых ценностей, бинарная логистическая регрессия, гендерное равенство и образование.

Introduction

Women frequently have decreased rates of participating in labor and are concentrated in lower-paying occupations, making gender inequality a major global issue. The situation is the same in Kazakhstan, where women's labor force participation is much lower than men's. Vakulchuk and Overland (2017), argued that with the help of data from the World Value Survey, there exists a connection between gender norms and the labor supply of women in Kazakhstan (Vakulchuk & Overland, 2017). The writers look into how cultural expectations of men's and women's roles, or gender norms, affect women's decisions to enter the workforce. Grenewig (2020) offers a thorough knowledge of the correlation between the labor supply and the gender norms in Kazakhstan by investigating the impact of individual-level characteristics like education and age as well as contextual factors like religion and region of residence (Grenewig, 2020). According to Samkoi (2022), gender norms have a significant impact on how women decide on their entrance into the labor force, even with the fewer participation rates amongst women in more traditional societies (Samkoi, 2022). The findings have significant policy-making ramifications and indicate that efforts to alter social perceptions of women's responsibilities may be essential to advancing gender equality in the workplace.

Problem Statement

This article aims to investigate the correlation that exists between the labor supply and the norms of men and women in Kazakhstan, highlighting the gap in research on the significance of the cultural norms and other factors in shaping the participation of women in the workforce in Central Asia. In reference to Alesina et.al (2013), this study seeks to fill this gap by probing the influence of social norms on women's decision-making regarding work and employment in Kazakhstan (Alesina et al., 2013).

Research Questions

1. How do gender norms influence labor force participation in Kazakhstan?
2. What factors contribute to the persistence of traditional gender roles in the country's workforce?
3. How do women's educational attainment and employment status affect their attitudes toward gender roles and labor force participation?
4. To what extent do government policies and initiatives promote gender equality in the labor market in Kazakhstan?

Research Objectives

1. To assess the effectiveness of government initiatives ad policies in enhancing equality among genders within the Kazakhstan labour market.
2. To conduct an investigation on education attainment among women as well as the effect of employment status on labour provision and gender roles.
3. To identify the factors that have an effect on the traditional gender roles' persistence in the workforce of the country (Ashenfelter and Hannan, 2016).

Literature Review

Previous studies have found that there exist traditional gender norms that have notable effects on the participation of women in labour provision. Georges (2021) expounds on a study conducted in Egypt which shows that women that hold onto their traditional beliefs are less likely to participate in labour outside their homes (Gorges, 2021). Studies conducted in India show that the participation of women in labour has negatively affected the beliefs placed on gender roles.

Results

The purpose of the study is to investigate how gender norms affect Kazakhstan's labor supply. Alesina et.al (2013) looked into the connection between gender norms and labor force participation using data from the World Values Survey (Alesina et al., 2013). According to the U.S Department of State (2022), established gender norms have a detrimental effect on women's engagement in the labor field (U.S. Department of State, 2022). Women who adhere to established gender roles are less likely than those who do not participate in the labor market (MacPhail, 2017). In figure 1, the findings also show that rural areas have a larger gender disparity in labor force participation than metropolitan areas.

Figure 1. Regression Analysis of Traditional Gender Norms

According to the regression analysis, conventional gender norms have a statistically significant adverse effect on women's involvement in the labor force. The coefficient for traditional gender norms is -0.204, meaning that the likelihood of women participating in the labor force decreases by 0.204 for every one-point increase in adherence to traditional gender standards (Ryumshin et al., 2021). In his findings, Liams, (2022) found that in comparison to the urban areas, rural areas have a greater gender disparity in labor force participation (Liamas, 2022).

Discussion

Regarding the applicability of the findings, the graph below shows the percentage of men and women who are employed or looking for work in Kazakhstan.  Samko et.al, (2022) argues that given that only 49.6% of women are actively employed or looking for work, compared to 77.2% of males, it is clear that women are much less likely than men to join the labor force (Samko et al., 2022). These results imply that increasing women's labor force participation should be a top priority for policymakers in Kazakhstan and that tackling gender norms that prevent women from obtaining paid employment may be a useful approach to accomplishing this aim.

Figure 2. Employment Search Variance between Men and Women

The percentage of men and women in Kazakhstan who are either employed or looking for work, as well as those who are neither, is shown in the graph above (Fig. 2). Kemelbayeva  and Aitur (2022) discovered that only 49.6% of women in Kazakhstan are presently employed or looking for work, compared to 77.2% of men, it is clear that women have increased chances of joining the labour force in comparison to men (Kemelbayeva & Aitur, 2022). This agrees to the outcomes acquired from the chart above which shows that more than 50% of Kazakhstani women are either unemployed or actively looking for work, underlining the pressing need to overcome gender norms that prevent women from finding paid employment. Women's engagement in the labor market should be given priority by Kazakhstani policymakers as it is essential to achieving gender equality and enhancing the country’s economic development.

Future Prospects of the Study

The study on gender norms and labor supply in Kazakhstan provides valuable insights into the factors that influence women's participation in the labor force. In article on ‘Gender Inequality in Unpaid Wok’ (2022) the outcomes acquired from this study enlighten the policies whose aim is to promote the empowerment of women and gender equality (Gender Inequality in Unpaid Work, 2022). Future research as outlined by Gorges (2021), can be built on this study by exploring the specific gender norms that discourage the participation of women in the labour force and identifying strategies for changing these norms (Gorges, 2021). For example, the research could investigate the role of education in shaping gender norms and whether interventions aimed at improving access to education for women can help to challenge traditional gender roles (MacPhail, 2017).. Additionally, future studies could examine the experiences of women who have successfully navigated gender norms and entered the labour force to identify the factors that have enabled their success and inform policies to support women's employment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into the correlation between the gender supply of labour and the gender norms in Kazakhstan. The results indicate that traditional gender norms and stereotypes continue to discourage the participation of women in the provision of labour in various sectors. Grenewig (2020) argues that the results have significant implications for women's economic empowerment, as well as for the overall development of the country (Grenewig, 2020). Therefore, policymakers in Kazakhstan should prioritize efforts to promote gender equality and combat gender stereotypes that limit women's access to economic opportunities. Additionally, future research could focus on exploring contributing elements that influence both stereotypes and norms among genders, as well as on identifying effective strategies for promoting women's participation in the labor force.

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