NAS Institute of Sociology: Belarusians believe women’s main purpose is family, but career is also important

According to the sociological data obtained during the nationwide monitoring of public opinion conducted by the Institute of Sociology at Belarus’ National Academy of Sciences (interviewing 1,850 respondents), a significant part of citizens of our country (67.3 percent) agree that ‘the main purpose of women is family and children’. Almost every fourth Belarusian (24.8 percent) does not support this belief.

“It should be noted that, on the one hand, traditional views on the importance of family self-realisation for women are preserved in the public consciousness of Belarusians, while, on the other hand, a certain degree of disagreement with the prejudice against career aspirations of women and men is also fixed,” said Alesya Solovey, a research fellow of the NAS Institute of Sociology.

For example, the opinion that ‘career professional development is more important for men than for women’ is almost equally divided: 42.8 percent agree with this stereotype, and among those who agree, there are more men (46.9 percent) than women (39.6 percent). 44.7 percent of respondents do not support this opinion, and among those who disagree, there are more women (50.1 percent) than men (37.8 percent).

“Social roles performed by men and women are reflected not only in the patterns of behaviour of both, but also in their professional, social and family spheres of life. Studying the extent to which people agree with gender stereotypes about professional opportunities for men and women contributes to the further development of gender culture in society,” the specialist believes.