WOMEN IN MALE-DOMINATED INDUSTRIES IN NUR-SULTAN: POLICEWOMEN AND FEMALE MANUAL WORKERS AUTONOMY, DIFFICULTIES, AND WORK CULTURE

Abstract

People spend a considerable part of their life devoted to work. It is the gender, one of the dimensions, that shapes the access to a specific profession and determines how others may perceive you. For centuries society’s prescription on what work to go or what women should do are constrained by discrimination. This notion of what is accessible to women must be differing in various cultural settings. Kazakhstan is considered a post-Soviet country, such dominant cultural ideology left a trace of structure on work dynamics: in the families, gender roles division suggests the man’s role be a breadwinner, while women’s activity, though usually working, prescribed to spend considerable time on house choruses. Still, this stereotypical gender division has a heavy impact on the choice of work. Because when we look up at the gender composition of a group who does this work, we may label it as feminine or masculine work – depending on the prevalence of men or women. This labeling accompanies giving symbolic associations such as power and prestige associated with a particular activity. Following that, normalizing it to be men's or women’s work sets the norm for who can enter the job industry, which after that we may think “this job is done only by men/women” (Gherardi 1994 cited in Johansson, Asztalos Morell, and Lindell 2020: 4).