Illustrative stock photo (source: Sme)
The idea of traditional male and female roles and abilities is still widespread in Slovak society. This stems from the European Values Study issued by the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) on the occasion of International Women’s Day falling on March 8.
The report suggests that the idea is spread much more by men than women. Moreover, mostly older people and people with lower education agree with the traditional division of gender roles, the SITA newswire reported.
Who should receive higher education and bring money into a family?
The European Values study focuses on surveying value orientations in Europe. Experts focused on the male and female roles in society, the participation of women in working life and their ability to work cein rtain positions and the impact on women’s employment on family lives.
“The previous European Values Studies suggested that most people agree that both spouses or partners have to contribute to the financial security of the family, though half of respondents assume that men should first of all earn money and women should take care of family,” said Alexandra Matejková of SAV’s Institute of Sociology, as quoted by SITA.
Childcare is considered as a way of achieving a fulfilled life, the survey revealed. Nearly 60 percent of men and 70 percent of women think that a woman has to have children to feel fulfilled.
Though most respondents do not doubt the importance of education for both boys and girls, a significant number of them say university education is more important for boys than for girls. This opinion is shared by more than one-third of men and nearly one-quarter of women, while the share of people is the highest among respondents with basic education and people older than 65 years, the survey showed.
Men are more confident at being leaders
The biggest differences between men and women emerge in their ideas about leadership skills. More than 60 percent of men think that men are better political leaders and CEOs in companies than women. This opinion is shared by 40 percent of women.
“However, it needs to be said that significantly fewer women than men doubt women’s ability to lead a company, be a political leader and maintain harmony in a family while working,” Matejková said, as quoted by SITA.
The survey also focused on various aspects of democratic society, with respondents evaluating whether they consider the same rights for men and women a basic feature of democracy. Though two-thirds of them said that the same rights belong to that group, every 10th respondent doubts it and another more than 20 percent claimed they both agree and disagree with the statement, according to SITA.
