First in CA Gender Economics Research Center opened in Almaty

The Center for Gender Economics Research was opened at the National Economy University in Kazakhstan, with the financial support of Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan (SFK).

Most often, the subject of gender research in Kazakhstan is the national and cultural aspects of the women’s role in the development of the society, while their role in the economic development of the nation is discussed much less often.

Although the most discussed topic in gender economics is the problem of unequal pay between men and women for the same type of work and with a comparable skill level. According to the World Economic Forum, Kazakhstan ranked 52^nd as part of the Global Gender Gap Report 2017. In 2017, women in the world earned 32% less than men, while it is 35% less in Kazakhstan.

“Gender Economics is one of the youngest areas of economic science, which analyzes the differences in the economic situation between men and women and the causes of their occurrence. Currently, there have been enough studies that demonstrate that gender inequality hinders economic development, and achievement of equality of genders will positively affect the country’s economy”, – stated Anton Artemyev, Chairman of the Board of Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan. “In this regard, we have gladly supported the opening of the Gender Economics Research Center (GERC), which will be the first research center on gender economics in Central Asia.”

In 2018, SFK has launched the Open Economy Fellowship scholarship program, and now the winners of the competition will explore economic empowerment for women, household economy and division of labor, gender pay gap, gender statistics and budgets at the GERC. Moreover, the “Gender Economics” training course is planned to be launched, which will be housed by the National Economy University.

As part of the event there was a discussion among experts on gender issues. After the discussion, the young researchers – the fellows – shared on the subject and primary lines of their gender economics studies.