Gender asymmetry within the Russian political elite remains a problem, despite the recorded increase in women’s representation. Studying the reasons for this imbalance,
as well as the barriers that prevent the establishment of equal opportunities for women and men, remains a very pressing issue. The purpose of this article was to identify the characteristics of social mobility for men and women in education and professional careers. Using the method of retrospective biographical analysis, the career trajectories of 800 politicians at three levels were studied: federal, regional and municipal, including bodies of both the legislative and executive branches of government. It was found that education is a powerful channel of vertical mobility that works equally for women and men, but male politicians have a higher education index than female politicians, and their specialization is more diversified. In modern Russia, the traditional distribution of spheres is preserved: female teachers are in greater demand in politics, who are assigned the area of family policy, support for motherhood and childhood. For men, these are economic, legal, engineering and military specialties. The areas
of employment that delegate the maximum number of their specialists to politics vary: for men it is construction, housing and communal services and the law enforcement system. For women it is science, education, accounting and journalism. Significant gender differences in career speed were found: advancement through the job hierarchy for men is generally slower than for women. Despite the fact that there are fewer women in politics, their careers are more rapid.
Acknowledgments: this work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation under grant № 23-28-01579 “Legitimation of social stratification in Russia”, https://rscf.ru/en/project/23-28-01579/.