Analysis of professional gender stereotypes of students specializing in economics

Abstract

The existence of gender stereotypes in professional activity largely limits freedom and prospects of
self-realization of an individual, with gender equality being one of the topical issues in Ukrainian society.
The article presents an overview of basic professional gender stereotypes of Ukrainian society and their
contents, analyzes professional gender stereotypes of students specializing in economics, and defines
measures which can help overcome gender stereotypes in relation to profession activity of future economists.
Bright influence of gender stereotypes on professional activity can be seen both in vertical (concentration of
women and men on the certain levels of professional hierarchy) and in horizontal employment. Women in
Ukraine continue to prevail in the subzero echelon of the career ladder and continue to be poorly presented in
top management. The research conducted in Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogics Academy at the Faculty of
Economics confirms, on the whole, a general tendency about the presence of the preconceived ideas about
masculinity and femininity of certain professions. As a result of the analysis it was discovered that both men
and women tend to form stereotypical value judgments in relation to people of different sexes.