Skip to main content
Book cover

Gendering Post-Soviet Space pp 49–71Cite as

Gender Differences Among Youth: Education to Job Transitions in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Tajikistan

Abstract

Despite education expansion, decreasing fertility rate and economic progress, women still face labor market integration problems and labor market disadvantages compared to men around the world. This applies also to the region of the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) and especially to Muslim societies of the CCA region due to the general weak labor market attachment of women in Muslim countries. As gender inequalities emerge already quite early in the working life this chapter focuses on gender inequalities in the transition from education to work. The key research question is how strong gender inequality is among young people who are transiting from school to work in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Tajikistan. The nationally representative, retrospective life history data from the TEW-CCA “Youth Transitions Surveys” of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Tajikistan 2017 are used to answer the research question. The gender inequality is described here in various aspects of the transition from education to work. First, the labor market inactivity decision is examined. Second, among those who are active in the labor market, it is investigated how much time it takes from the time of graduation until the moment of finding a first job. Third, the quality of the first job obtained is analyzed in terms of chances of getting access to formal sector jobs. Comparing results across the three countries will allow us to highlight cross-country similarities and differences that are expected because of the common past Soviet institutional legacy and varying economic and cultural conditions.

Keywords

  • Youth
  • Gender differences
  • Employment
  • Job search
  • Azerbaijan
  • Georgia
  • Tajikistan

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-9358-1_3
  • Chapter length: 23 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-981-15-9358-1
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   149.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Hardcover Book
USD   149.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The the percentages of those, who was indifferent or was not able to provide an answer here was not reported. Respondents who strongly agreed or agreed with the statements are summed up in a category of those, who agreed, and those, who strongly disagreed or disagreed are respectively presented as a group of those, who disagreed.

  2. 2.

    Traditionally, researchers consider young adulthood as a rather static period between the ages of 15 and 24 and, in recent years, the upper age limit has been increased to 29 or 34 given the strong post-secondary education expansion around the world.

  3. 3.

    Using the monthly retrospective activity calendar information, periods of military service were deducted from the measurement of search duration as this is an obligatory time-out that should not be counted to the duration of finding a first job.

  4. 4.

    Informal employment includes employment in both formal and informal sectors but it is a job-based concept and ‘encompasses those jobs that generally lack basic social or legal protections or employment benefits and may be found in the formal sector, informal sector or households’ (ILO 2011, p. 2). In other words, informal employment refers to all informal jobs, whether carried out in formal sector enterprises, informal sector enterprises or households (ILO 2003).

References

  • Allen J, van der Velden, R (2007) Transitions from higher education to work. In U Teichler (ed) Careers of university graduates. Views and experiences in comparative perspectives. Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 55–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Badurashvili I (2009) Out-migration from Georgia after 1990. In: Savvidis T (ed) International migration: local conditions and effects (pp. 80–108). Berlin: FU Berlin, Osteuropa-Institut

    Google Scholar 

  • Baranowska A, Gebel M (2010) The determinants of youth temporary employment in the enlarged Europe: do labour market institutions matter? Eur Soc 12(3): 367–390

    Google Scholar 

  • Baranowska A, Gebel M, Kotowska IE (2011) The role of fixed-term contracts at labour market entry in Poland: Stepping stones, screening devices, traps or search subsidies? Work, Employ & Soc 25(4): 777–793

    Google Scholar 

  • Bejaković P, Mrnjavac Z (2018) The danger of long-term unemployment and measures for its reduction: the case of Croatia*, Econ Res-Ekon Istraživanja 31:1, 1837–1850, https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677x.2018.1521295

  • Blossfeld HP, Buchholz S, Bukodi E, Kurz K (eds) (2008). Young workers, globalization, and the labor market. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar

    Google Scholar 

  • Blossfeld HP, Golsch K, Rohwer G (2007) Event history analysis with Stata. New York, Erlbaum, Taylor & Francis Group

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewster KL, Rindfuss RR (2000) Fertility and women’s employment in industrialized nations. Annu Rev Sociol 26: 271–296

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchmann MC, Kriesi I (2011) Transition to adulthood in Europe. Annu Rev Sociol 37(1): 481–503

    Google Scholar 

  • Demographic Year Book (2018) http://stat.ww.tj/publications/June2019/demographic-yearbook-2018.pdf

  • Elder S, Barcucci V, Gurbuzer Y, Perardel Y, Principi M (2015) Labour market transitions of young women and men in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Work4Youth Publication Series No. 28. Geneva, ILO, Youth Employment Programme, Employment Policy Dept

    Google Scholar 

  • Elder S, Kring S (2016) Young and female—a double strike? Gender analysis of school-to-work transition surveys in 32 developing countries. Geneva, ILO

    Google Scholar 

  • European Training Foundation (2008) Transition from education to work in EU neighbouring countries: results of an ETF Innovation and Learning Project. Luxembourg, European Training Foundation

    Google Scholar 

  • Eurofound (2020) European Working Conditions Surveys (EWCS) https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/surveys/european-working-conditions-surveys-ewcs

  • Gangl M (2002) Changing labour markets and early career outcomes. Labour market entry in Europe over the past decade. Work, Employ Soc16(1): 67–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebel M (2012) The transition from education to work in Syria. Results of the Youth Transition Survey 2009. Turin, European Training Foundation

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebel M (2020) Young Women’s Transition from Education to Work in the Caucasus and Central Asia. ANNALS Am Acad Polit Soc Sci 688(1): 137–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716220908260

  • Gebel M, Badurashvili I, Olimova S, Sattarov R (eds) (2019) Methodological report on TEW-CCA Youth Transition Surveys in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Tajikistan. TEW-CCA Working Paper No. 3. Bamberg, TEW-CCA Project

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebel M, Giesecke J (2016) Does deregulation help? The impact of employment protection reforms on youths’ unemployment and temporary employment risks in Europe. Eur Sociol Rev 32(4): 486–500

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebel M, Heyne S (2014) Transitions to adulthood in the Middle East and North Africa: Young women’s rising? Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebel M, Noelke C (2011) The transition from school to work in Central and Eastern Europe: theory and methodology. In: Kogan I, Noelke C, Gebel M (eds) Making the transition. Education and labor market entry in Central and Eastern Europe. Stanford, California, Stanford University Press, pp 29–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerber TP (2003) Loosening links?: School-to-work transitions and institutional change in Russia since 1970. Soc Forces 82(1): 241–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerber TP, Mayorova O (2006) Dynamic gender differences in a post-socialist labor market: Russia, 1991–1997. Soc Forces 84(4); 2047–2075

    Google Scholar 

  • Gërxhani K, van de Werfhorst HG (2013) The effect of education on informal sector participation in a post-communist country. Eur Sociol Rev 29(3): 464–476

    Google Scholar 

  • Gimpelson VE, Kapeliushnikov R (2015) Between light and shadow: Informality in the Russian labour market. In: Oxenstierna S (ed) Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series. The challenges for Russia’s politicized economic system. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, pp 33–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Gimpelson V, Zudina A (2012) “Informals” in the Russian economy. How many of them and who are they? Probl Econ Transit 55(5): 26–57–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Heyne S, Gebel M (2016) Education effects on the school-to-work transition in Egypt: A cohort comparison of labor market entrants 1970–2012. Res Soc Strat Mobil 46 (A): 37–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Heyne S (2017) Culture and female labor force participation in international comparison. Mannheim, University of Mannheim

    Google Scholar 

  • Iannelli C, Smyth E (2008) Mapping gender and social background differences in education and youth transitions across Europe. J Youth Stud 11(2): 213–232

    Google Scholar 

  • ILO (2003) Report of the Seventeenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians. 24 November–3 December 2003. Geneva, ILO

    Google Scholar 

  • ILO (2011) Statistical update on the employment in the informal economy. Geneva, ILO. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---stat/documents/presentation/wcms_157467.pdf

  • ILO (2014) Key indicators of the labour market. Eigth edition. Geneva, ILO

    Google Scholar 

  • ILO (2016) Non-standard employment around the world: Understanding challenges, shaping prospects (1st ed). Geneva, ILO

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalleberg AL (2011) Good jobs, bad jobs: The rise of polarized and precarious employment systems in the United States, 1970s to2000s. American Sociological Association’s Rose series in sociology. New York, NY, Russel Sage Foundation

    Google Scholar 

  • Karabchuk T (2012a) Informal employment in Russia. Why is it so sustainable? Econ Sociology Eur Electron Newsl 13(2): 29–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Karabchuk T (2012b) Part-time and temporary workers in Russia: winners or losers? J Labour Mark Res 45(1): 23–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Karabchuk T (2012c) Temporary employment in Russia. Why mostly men? Eur J Comp Econ 9(2): 279–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Karabchuk T, Soboleva N (2014) Informal employment and subjective well-being in Europe. Evidence from the European Social Survey Data. Südosteuropa. Z Für Polit Und Ges (04): 397–420

    Google Scholar 

  • Karabchuk T (2020) Job Instability and Fertility Intentions of Young Adults in Europe: Does Labor Market Legislation Matter? ANNALS Am Acad Polit Soc Sci 688 (1): 225–245. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716220910419

  • Kogan I (2011) When informal is normal… On the role of credentials and contacts for the job entry in Serbia. Res Soc Strat Mobil 29(4): 445–458

    Google Scholar 

  • Kogan I, Noelke C, Gebel M (eds) (2011) Making the transition: Education and labor market entry in Central and Eastern Europe. Stanford, California, Stanford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Kosyakova Y, Saar E, Dämmrich J (2017) Institutional change and gender inequalities at labour market entry: A comparison of Estonia, Russia, and East and West Germany. Stud Transit States Soc 9(2): 17–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Krug G, Drasch K, Jungbauer-Gan M (2019) The social stigma of unemployment: consequences of stigma consciousness on job search attitudes, behaviour and success. J Labour Market Res 53: 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12651-019-0261-4

  • Lange Md, Gesthuizen M, Wolbers MHJ (2014) Youth labour market integration across Europe The impact of cyclical, structural, and institutional characteristics. Eur Soc 16(2): 194–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehmann H, Pignatti N (2018) Informal employment relationships and the labor market: Is there segmentation in Ukraine? J Comp Econ 46(3): 838–857

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehmann H, Zaiceva A (2015) Redefining informality and measuring its determinants. Evidence from the Russian labour market. J Int Dev 27(4): 464–488

    Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd CB (ed) (2005) Growing up global. the changing transitions to adulthood in developing countries. Washington, DC, The National Academies Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcus R, Harper C 2014 Gender justice and social norms—processes of change for adolescent girls. Towards a conceptual framework 2. Overseas Development Institute. London. https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/8831.pdf

  • OECD (2013) OECD employment outlook 2013. Paris, OECD

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2017) How’s life? Measuring well-being. Paris, OECD

    Google Scholar 

  • Oláh LS, Kotowska IE, Richter R (2018) The new roles of men and women and implications for families and societies. In: Doblhammer G, Gumà J (eds) A demographic perspective on gender, family and health in Europe. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Olimova S, Bosc I (2003) Labour migration from Tajikistan. Dushanbe, International Organization for Migration

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoon I, Silbereisen RK (eds) (2009) Transitions from school to work. Globalization, individualization, and patterns of diversity. New York, Cambridge University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Selezneva E (2017) Population policies in Soviet and modern Russia. In: T Karabchuk, K Kumo, E Selezneva (eds) Studies in Economic Transition. Demography of Russia. From the past to the present. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK; Imprint Palgrave Macmillan, pp 63–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Smyth E (2005) Gender differentiation and early labour market integration across Europe. Eur Soc 7(3): 451–479

    Google Scholar 

  • Socio-Economic Situation of the Countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (2018) / Reports / CIS STAT http://www.cisstat.org/eng/frame_public.htm

  • Spierings N, Smits J, Verloo M (2009) On the compatibility of Islam and gender equality. Effects of modernization, state islamization, and democracy on women’s labor market participation in 45 Muslim countries. Soc Indic Res 90(3): 503–522

    Google Scholar 

  • Spierings N, Smits J, Verloo M (2010) Micro—and macrolevel determinants of women’s employment in six Arab countries. J Marriage Fam 72(5): 1391–1407

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistical Yearbook of Georgia (2018) National Statistics Office of Georgia—Tbilisi, 2018.—280 https://www.geostat.ge/media/20931/Yearbook_2018.pdf

  • Statistical Year Book of Azerbaijan (2019) http://stat.ww.tj/publications/June2019/demographic-yearbook-2018.pdf

  • Van den Berg, Gerard J, van Ours JC (1994) Unemployment dynamics and duration dependence in France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Econ J 104(423): 432

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Lippe T, van Dijk L (2002) Comparative research on women’s employment. Annu Rev Sociol 28(1): 221–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Welzel C (2013) Freedom rising: human empowerment and the quest for emancipation. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139540919

  • World Bank (2019) World Bank indicators. Washington, DC, World Bank. Retrieved on 4 February 2019 from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator

Download references

Acknowledgements

Michael Gebel acknowledges funding for the project “Opportunities and Barriers at the Transition from Education to Work. A Comparative Youth Study in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Tajikistan” from the Volkswagen Foundation for the period 2015–2019.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany

    Michael Gebel

  2. Department of Economics, Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg, Bayern, Germany

    Kseniia Gatskova

  3. Department of Government and Society, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates

    Tatiana Karabchuk

Authors
  1. Michael Gebel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kseniia Gatskova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tatiana Karabchuk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Gebel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Government and Society, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates

    Assist. Prof. Tatiana Karabchuk

  2. Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Kunitachi, Japan

    Prof. Kazuhiro Kumo

  3. Department of Economics, Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg, Bayern, Germany

    Kseniia Gatskova

  4. Department of Economics, Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg, Bayern, Germany

    Ekaterina Skoglund

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Gebel, M., Gatskova, K., Karabchuk, T. (2021). Gender Differences Among Youth: Education to Job Transitions in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Tajikistan. In: Karabchuk, T., Kumo, K., Gatskova, K., Skoglund, E. (eds) Gendering Post-Soviet Space. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9358-1_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9358-1_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-9357-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-9358-1

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)