Russia 2.5.5

Gender equality is not identified as a policy issue at the governmental level. However, the cultural sector is mainly feminised as is the case with other low-income sectors (teaching, medicine, social work).

Table 2:     The share of working women by sector, in %, 1980-2007

	1980	1990	2000	2002	2004	2006	2007
Total	51	51	48	49	49	49	49.6-
Culture and arts	70	71	69	73	69*	74**	74**
Education	78	79	80	79	81	81	80.4

Source:    
Gosudarstvenny komitet RF po statistike: Trud i zanyatost‘ v Rossii, 2007. Ofits. izd. (State Committee of the RF for Statistics: Labour and Employment in Russia, 2007. Moscow, 2007). Moskva, 2007, p. 73; Gosudarstvenny komitet RF po statistike: Rossijsky statistichesky yezhegodnik, 2007. Ofits. izd. (State Committee of the RF for Statistics: Russian Statistical Yearbook, 2007, Official editions. Moscow, 2007). Moskva, 2007.
Notes: 
*  Within the Ministry of Culture organisations this indicator equalled 73%.
**  Within the Ministry of Culture organisations.

In the public sector, for many years, salaries and remuneration in culture and the arts have been the lowest. In 1999, there were 554 000 and in 2007, 603 553 women employed within the system of the culture Ministry. In 2004, the average “female” salary in the sector (3 791 RUB) was lower than the corresponding “male” salary (5 505 RUB) (see Table 1), and this trend correlates to the common employment situation. Overall, the state apparatus is also feminised. Although, in 2007 women made up 70.8% of civil servants at the federal and 72.1% at the regional level, decision-makers were principally male (about 80% of the “higher” and “chief” administrative staff at the federal level).

At the same time, higher professional education in culture and the arts is still very popular among women: in 1998/1999 over 53% of the total student body and 66% of the student body in arts and film was female. In 2005/2006, related figures rose slightly to 57% and 74% respectively. In 2007/2008, women made up 71% of students at secondary specialised schools and 74% of the student body in the arts and film higher schools, while they made up relatively 50 and 57% of the total student body.