International Scientific Round Table “Gender Qquality in Modern Kazakhstan”

On November 29, 2023, the International Scientific Round Table “Gender Equality in Modern Kazakhstan” was held in Astana. The event was held within the framework of the project AP19680677 “Economic and Demographic Development of Kazakhstan: Gender Aspect” of grant funding for scientific and (or) scientific and technical projects for 2023-2025 of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The round table was moderated by Irina E. Kalabikhina, Doctor of Economics, Professor, UN Expert, Head of the Department of Population, Faculty of Economics, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University.

The Moscow scientific school was also represented by Oksana V. Kuchmaeva, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor, Rosstat expert, Professor of the Department of Population, Faculty of Economics, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. Her speech was dedicated to the Kazakhstani family: its values, household structure, analysis of the transformation of the family model (marriage rate, family size, family structure by demographic types, number of children in the family, etc.).

Dmitry V. Poletaev, Candidate of Economic Sciences, UN expert, leading researcher at the Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences, made a report on the topic “Gender Aspect of the Potential and Prospects for Interaction of Kazakhstan with Russian Kazakhs and former Kazakhs in the Russian Federation,” sharing the results of a sociological study of three groups of representatives of the Kazakh diaspora / communities of Kazakhs and former foreigners in the Russian Federation: citizens of the Russian Federation of Kazakh origin who have not previously lived or lived in Kazakhstan, citizens of the Russian Federation who do not have Kazakh origin and previously lived in Kazakhstan and citizens of Kazakhstan of Kazakh origin temporarily staying in the Russian Federation. The main conclusion that was obtained by the author: the potential for interaction with Kazakhstan among Russian Kazakhs and former Kazakhs in Russia is significant, but is poorly applied.

The faculty members of the Kazakh-American Free University were represented by: scientific director of the project Aizhan A. Mukhamadieva – Professor of the Business Department of the Kazakh-American Free University, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Zhasulan E. Baykenov – Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), First Vice-President of KAFU, Ilona V. Bordiyanu – Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Head of the Business Department of KAFU, Yulia A. Gavrilova – Candidate of Legal Sciences, Vice-Rector for Scientific Work and Postgraduate Education of KAFU.

Aizhan A. Mukhamadieva  in her speech emphasized the relevance of the problem of gender inequality in the Republic of Kazakhstan in such areas of relations as labor, politics, marriage and education. According to the speaker, today there is a need to improve industry-specific legislation, as well as develop special programs to achieve gender equality in our country.

Zhasulan E. Baikenov characterized the problems of gender inequality in the labor market in the Republic of Kazakhstan: he determined the shares of part-time workers, identified the shares of men and women working in family businesses, showed the dynamics of employment by economic sector, the share of women in leadership positions, as well as the share of men and female employers in the total number of employed men and women in Kazakhstan. In a comparative aspect of Kazakhstan, Germany and Russia, statistics on self-employment of the population, as well as vulnerable employment of the population, were presented.

Ilona V. Bordiyanu, relying on the results of her report “Gender Wage Gap in the Republic of Kazakhstan,” identified the factors influencing the level of wages, the reasons for low wages for women, and also proved that the size of the gender wage gap decreases with a reduction in job level.

Yulia A. Gavrilova in her speech on the topic “Modern Trends in the Development of Female Crime in the Republic of Kazakhstan” showed the relative constancy of the share of female crime in the crime structure; proved that the largest number of women convicted in the Republic of Kazakhstan are for offenses against property, and the dynamics of female crime follows the vector of crime development in Kazakhstan as a whole.

Member of the research group Kuanysh S. Alpysbaev – Deputy Director of the Sorbonne-Kazakhstan Institute of the Abai KazNPU for Science and International Relations made a report on the topic “Demographic Situation in the Republic of Kazakhstan”. Kuanysh S. Alpysbaev analyzed the dynamics of the total population in gender terms, birth and death rates, marriage and divorce rates, natural growth of the urban and rural population, life expectancy, and migration dynamics by gender.

The round table participants actively shared opinions, asked questions, and offered their own vision of certain problems related to gender issues.

We wish the research team further successful implementation of the project!

Research Department of KAFU