The influx of women from the former Soviet Union, with their strong science and engineering culture, altered gender norms in Israel, write Naomi Friedman-Sokuler and Claudia Seni

Friedman-Sokuler, Naomi

Senik, Claudia

English

LSE Research Online

Once	women	embrace	STEM,	there’s	no	going	back	tothe	old	culture	of	‘pink-collar’	jobsIn	2020,	the	gender	wage	gap	is	essentially	due	to	two	main	factors.	First,	occupational	segregation,	in	particularthe	underrepresentation	of	women	in	maths	and	science	in	education	and	in	the	labour	market,	while	these	fieldsare	important	avenues	of	professional	success	and	high	earnings.	Second,	women’s	weaker	attachment	to	paidwork:	interrupted	careers,	shorter	working	hours,	and	higher	demand	for	time	flexibility;	traits	which	reflect	differentwork-life	compromises,	where	the	presence	of	children	plays	an	important	role	for	women.	Existing	institutions	andtraditional	gender	roles	sustain	both	factors,	and	form	what	we	would	call	a	cultural	equilibrium.	This	equilibrium	issustained	because	individuals	and	households	anticipate	the	situation	of	women	in	the	labour	market,	and	makeearly	educational	choices	accordingly.	However,	different	cultural	equilibria	may	arise	depending	on	localinstitutions.In	our	paper,	we	look	at	what	happens	when	two	different	cultures	mix,	namely	the	Western-style	gender	culturejust	described,	which	is	prevalent	in	Israel,	and	the	Soviet-style	gender	culture	prevalent	among	immigrants	fromthe	former	Soviet	Union	(FSU).Soviet-style	gender	cultureSocialist	societies	of	Central	and	Eastern	Europe	were	characterised	by	two	important	features,	the	legacy	of	whichis	still	visible	today:The	utmost	valorisation	of	science	and	engineering	in	education,	research	and	the	economy.	This	served	thepriority	of	the	military-industrial	sector,	in	the	context	of	the	competition	with	the	Western	capitalist	world(arms,	space	race,	and	economic	race).The	strong	female	attachment	to	work,	harnessed	to	the	objective	of	rapid	industrial	growth,	and	sustained	bya	host	of	institutions	that	made	full	employment	and	maternity	compatible	(e.g.	kindergartens).These	features	have	created	a	specific	gender	culture	marked	by	strong	work	values	of	women,	which,	in	turn,changed	the	general	conception	of	gender	roles.	Previous	studies	have	documented	the	persistence	of	this	specificgender	culture	in	former	socialist	countries,	even	after	socialist	institutions	were	long	gone.How	do	gender	cultures	mix?LSE Business Review: Once women embrace STEM, there’s no going back to the old culture of ‘pink-collar’ jobs Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2020-10-14Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2020/10/14/once-women-embrace-stem-theres-no-going-back-to-the-old-culture-of-pink-collar-jobs/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/We	study	the	natural	experiment	created	by	the	massive,	sudden,	and	unexpected	inflow	of	Soviet	immigrants	inIsrael	after	the	fall	of	the	Iron	Curtain.	Within	10	years,	about	1	million	immigrants	flew	from	the	former	Soviet	Union(FSU)	into	Israel,	a	country	that	counted	4.5	million	people.	This	was	triggered	by	the	long-awaited	freedom	toemigrate	from	the	“prison	of	the	peoples”,	the	collapse	of	the	socialist	economic	system,	and	the	Israeli	Law	ofReturn.In	order	to	study	the	ensuing	cultural	mix,	we	follow	an	entire	cohort	of	females	born	in	1988-1989,	within	which15%	were	born	in	the	former	Soviet	Union	(and	immigrated	as	babies),	4%	in	other	countries,	and	the	rest	areIsraeli	natives.	We	follow	them	from	middle	school	up	to	higher	education	and	the	labour	market,	usingadministrative	educational	data,	the	Israeli	labour	force	survey	and	income	survey.We	observe	two	types	of	cultural	transmission	of	Soviet	gender	norms.First,	vertical	inter-generational	transmission	from	former	Soviet	Union	parents	to	their	daughters.	We	show	thatFSU	young	women:are	over-represented	in	STEM	study	fields	in	secondary	and	tertiary	education;avoid	tertiary	study	fields	leading	to	female-dominated	“pink-collar	occupations”,	such	as	education	and	socialwork;exhibit	stronger	labour	force	attachment	(longer	working	hours	and	higher	earnings).Second,	horizontal	diffusion	from	FSU	immigrants	to	native	Israeli	girls.	The	higher	their	early	exposure	to	FSUimmigrants	in	middle	school,	the	more	likely	are	native	Israeli	women	to	choose	STEM	tertiary	study	fields	and	theless	likely	they	are	to	choose	pink-collar	study	fields.After	Eve	eats	the	apple:	stereotype	threats	do	not	reviveThese	influences	have	unequal	strength.	Native	girls	are	all	the	more	influenced	by	the	Soviet-style	gender	script	asthe	proportion	of	FSU	immigrants	in	their	school	increases,	but	the	reverse	is	not	true.	FSU	immigrant	girls	are	notinfluenced	by	the	composition	of	their	school:	no	matter	whether	their	ethnic	group	represents	5%	or	50%	or	allpupils,	they	will	systematically	avoid	pink-collar	study	fields,	i.e.	education	and	social	work.We	interpret	this	asymmetry	as	a	sign	of	irreversibility	in	the	evolution	of	gender	norms:	once	the	stereotype	threatthat	prevented	women	from	choosing	STEM	has	been	lifted,	there	is	no	going	back	to	traditional	beliefs	andpreferences.This	suggests	that	gender	cultures	that	favour	female’s	ambition	will	spread.	Like	Eve	having	eaten	the	apple,	thereis	no	return	to	a	state	of	ignorance	that	math	and	STEM,	or	any	avenue	of	success,	are	open	to	women.♣♣♣Notes:This	blog	post	is	based	on	From	Pink-Collar	to	Lab	Coat:	Cultural	Persistence	and	Diffusion	of	SocialistGender	Norms,	presented	at	the	European	Economic	Association’s	Annual	Congress,	August	2020.The	post	expresses	the	views	of	its	author(s),	not	the	position	of	LSE	Business	Review	or	the	London	Schoolof	Economics.Featured	image	by	ThisisEngineering	RAEng	on	UnsplashWhen	you	leave	a	comment,	you’re	agreeing	to	our	Comment	PolicyNaomi	Friedman-Sokuler	is	a	lecturer	in	economics	at	Bar	Ilan	University,	Israel.			LSE Business Review: Once women embrace STEM, there’s no going back to the old culture of ‘pink-collar’ jobs Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2020-10-14Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2020/10/14/once-women-embrace-stem-theres-no-going-back-to-the-old-culture-of-pink-collar-jobs/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/Claudia	Senik	is	a	professor	at	the	Paris	School	of	Economics	and	at	Sorbonne	University.				LSE Business Review: Once women embrace STEM, there’s no going back to the old culture of ‘pink-collar’ jobs Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2020-10-14Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2020/10/14/once-women-embrace-stem-theres-no-going-back-to-the-old-culture-of-pink-collar-jobs/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/

Once women embrace stem, there’s no going back to the old culture of ‘pink-collar’ jobs

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Once women embrace stem, there’s no going back to the old culture of ‘pink-collar’ jobs

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