Ph. D. in Educational Sciences, Mezhyev N.I.

Amur State University (Birobidzhan Branch), Russia

The increase of production’s efficiency due to the account of gender features

At present in the Russian Federation special value is given to searching of new ways to increase the production’s efficiency, in our opinion one of the aspects is the accounting of gender specific character of management.

Many sciences did not attach special significance to studying of gender differentiation while examination various aspects of economic activity, gender features were not taken into account. Nowadays many of researchers, economists and experts in management raise the problem of gender differentiation and intersexual cooperation.

Psychologists note that a wide complex of biological, psychiatrist, behavioral and social characteristics which are connected with a human’s activity, directed to reproduction or satisfaction of a variety of needs by the reproductive system of an organism, is covered by the notion “sexuality”. The components of sexuality of individuality are biological sex, gender and sexual preferences [1, p. 9].

The American psychologist Robert Stoller suggested separating two aspects of sexuality of a person conceptually: biological and social. To denote social psychological aspects R. Stoller suggested using the term “gender” (“social sex”), meant a male, female or neutral gender of expressions in English [2].

Thus, the term “gender” is understood as social psychological aspects of the human sexuality: manners of behavior and a personality’s characteristics which are determined by a social status and social cooperation of persons of a definite sex and definite sexual preferences, but not by biological factors.

Men dominate in the public sphere in most countries. The Russian Federation is not an exception. So, among deputies of the State Duma of the sixth convocation (elections of 2011) men are 84,5 % (women 15,5%). The greatest number of women is in the fraction “United Russia”. There are 43 women deputies; it is 18% of the total deputies’ number of this fraction. There are 4 women deputies in the fraction KPRF and 4 in the fraction LDPR (4,3% and 7,4 %, respectively). There are 10 women deputies in the fraction “Fair Russia” (15,6%) [3].

According to the data of 2011 the percentage of women deputies in the upper House of the Federal Council of the Russian Federation (the 5^th convocation) is 4,9 per cent of the total deputies’ number (in 1998 (the second convocation) – 0,5%), in the lower House – 14% (in 1998 – 10%). The percentage of women deputies among the deputies of the legislative authorities of the State of the Russian constituent entities is 12 per cent.

In spite of such low percentage of women deputies in the highest legislative authorities positive developments should be noted. So, on the public civil service in all branches of the power women make the considerable majority (in the legislative authority – 58 %, in executive – 70 %, in the judicial authority and prosecutor's office – 79 %) [4].

Men prevail at the upper echelons of authorities in the spheres of state governing and at the economic, financial and scientific elite of the society. In spite of the level of men’s education is a little lower than women’s, they are busy in branches with traditionally high wages: in heavy industry, material sector, construction and electric works and transport. In favor of men there is also an official hierarchy: they make the utter majority among heads of the enterprises, rectors of high schools, heads of the academic scientific divisions, employers.

In Russia the level of men’s salaries is higher 35 per cent than women’s one. Even in budgetary organizations with a low level of payment men’s salaries are higher than women’s for they (men) hold the majority of senior positions (for example, in the health system men prevail among chief physicians, chairs of departments, leading experts) [5, с. 150-151].

Thus, in the Russian Federation a gender imbalance is observed in favor of men in all the leading spheres of the society’s life: policy, government and economics.

At present in Russia not only economic activities change fundamentally but also human mentality and consciousness do. However, some of attitudes and conceptions about business life and management in Russia still remain and are influenced by social and cultural inertia. This is the idea that men as managers are more effective. On the one hand, it is connected with difficulties of management of the enterprises under modern conditions, and on the other hand, is caused by the phenomenon of stereotypification which constrains replacement of patriarchal stereotypes.

In a modern society women have to make more efforts to succeed in career. The first women leaders accepted the rules of behaviour, characteristic for men, and they achieved success, nowadays the second wave of women leaders do not use so called a «male style », but they create and develop their own specific «female style » of management.

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation women have equal rights with men to receive supervision positions at economy. At first sight, this legislation is carried out quite successfully.

For example, 42 per cent of leading posts in Russian companies ordered by owners belong to women, it is stated in the new survey Grant Thornton International, and 7000 companies from 36 countries including Russia were interviewed. The majority of women leaders are only in Philippines (47%). For comparison, in the United States is 20% and 18% in France.

Women’s positions in Russia in 2010 have noticeably become stronger in comparison with 2007, then only 34 % of respondents said about women’ presence in at the top management of the company.

The experts of Grant Thornton International conclude that high positions of women leaders in Russia in compare with other countries can be explained by the fact that there are a lot of leading positions traditionally held by women such as – a chief accountant, marketing director, personnel director. “However, if we count the ratio of men and women as directors of companies, women are not in a winning position. In this respect, Russia is where to aspire still” the Grant Thornton personnel manager in Russia Lyudmila Gayday said[6, p. 59].

It is an absolutely true conclusion. Statistic data show that in fact there are very few women at leading positions of economic activities.

At the level of economic activities in spite of evident predominance of women specialists with higher and secondary education, their share among business leaders is insignificant and barely growing. So, on the eve of the 90-ies of the twentieth century, women at high positions were 6-7%. Currently, the proportion of women managers in domestic industries ranges from 6 to 9%, their assistants - 8%, and in the construction and transport less than 1% [7].

In our opinion according to the latter one of the ways to improve the effectiveness of production under current conditions is to introduce women into the sphere of management and governance of economic sectors. Many researches in the sphere of gender features at Russian enterprises and business convince this fact and let us come to several important conclusions.

The basic conclusions we should come to are accustomed stereotypes in regard of women leaders have no grounds; leadership in organization is not connected with a sex of a head and is not a men’s prerogative. It means that men and women have equal rights to govern an organization or business, and gender features are not the reasons for poor managing. Moreover, as researches show women in comparison with men are more responsible and disciplined and have other highly effective supervisory skills [8; 9].

Thus, effective transformations in the Russian economy are impossible without the use of women’s potential.

The researchers in the sphere of gender relations note [10], that under modern conditions heads in order to improve the efficiency of the companies under their management should use a gender approach to managing along with traditional (functional, system, process, situation, etc.).

The main aims of the gender approach’s realization in practical activity by heads of organizations are:

- To eliminate a gender imbalance in the structure of head positions;

- To create equal opportunities for employment, training and promotion for men and women;

- To achieve a gender symmetry in payment, the moral and material encouragement.

While using the gender approach as L.S. Egorova notes managers should use a gender sensitive style of governance. The gender sensitive style should be understood as the style which takes into account the position of men and women and promotes a gender balance at the management level and all divisions of a company and achievement gender equality in all spheres of functioning of industrial organization (recruitment, personnel policy, conditions and payment, dismissal, etc.) [10, p. 47].

Thus, accounting of gender characteristics in management let us achieve the gender balance of head positions when the ratio of male and female managers at all levels will be adequate to the quantity of working men and women, their contribution to the efficiency of a company, and will participate in the management of the organization equally, etc. Thus, it will promote increasing of the efficiency of the management and achievement of business aims of organizations.

Literature:

1. Vorontchov D.V. Gender psychology of communication / D.V. Vorontchov. – Rostov-on-Don: Publish. House UFU, 2008. – 208 p.

2. Gender researchers [Electronic resource] // Encyclopedia Krugosvet: Universal popular science online-encyclopedia. Assess mode: http://www.krugosvet.ru/enc/gumanitarnye_nauki/sociologiy

3. The use of some women as representatives of the State Duma of the sixth convocation [Electronic resource]. - Assess mode: http://forum.gender.ru/node/7406.

4. Gerasimova N.V. The increase of women’s quantity in the FA of Russia will be discussed in the State Duma / N. Gerasimova [Electronic resource]. - Assess mode: http://old.er.ru/er/text.shtml?19/2183.

5. Women and men of Russia. 2010: Stat. col. / Rosstat. – M., 2010. – 283 p.

6. The report on the development of human potential in the Russian Federation, 2010. The aims of development of the millennium in Russia: look at the future / the Head of the project S.N. Bobilev. – M., 2010. – 156 p.

7. Khohlova T. P. The gender problems in the modern management [Electronic resource]. / T.P. Khohlova. - Assess mode: http://referent.mubint.ru/security/8/2686/1.

8. Bodina U.N. The gender specific character in the professional governing [Electronic resource] / U.N. Bodina // The management of economic systems: electronic scientific journal. - Assess mode: http://uecs.ru/teoriya-upravleniya/item/646-2011-09-26-05-15-49.

9. Samartcheva O.K. The gender aspects of management in business [Electronic resource] / O.K. Samartcheva, T.A. Fomina. - Assess mode: http://www.socmech.ru/files/library/public/articles/04.pdf.

10. Egorova L.S. The gender method in management: Manual / L.S. Egorova, S.M. Stepanova. – Ivanovo: Unona, 2002. – 100 p.