HomeAbstract of 7th-icrpconfNormative Gender Attitudes and Value Orientations as Predictors of Professional Self-Realization Among Women Engineers in Russia

Normative Gender Attitudes and Value Orientations as Predictors of Professional Self-Realization Among Women Engineers in Russia

  • Jun 3, 2026
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Abstract Book of the 7th International Conference on Research in Psychology

Year: 2026

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Normative Gender Attitudes and Value Orientations as Predictors of Professional Self-Realization Among Women Engineers in Russia

Elizaveta Boldyreva

ABSTRACT:

This study examines the predictive role of normative gender attitudes and value orientations in professional self-realization among women engineers in Russia. Despite women’s formal access to engineering education, persistent gender segregation in the Russian engineering workforce (13–33% women representation) suggests that psychological mechanisms beyond structural barriers constrain women’s professional development. The sample consisted of 103 women aged 35–45 with higher engineering education and current employment in the engineering sector.
A psychodiagnostic battery included four validated instruments measuring normative femininity attitudes, gender identity type, value orientations, and professional self-realization. Stepwise multiple regression revealed a four-predictor model explaining 31.1% of the variance (p < .001), with softness/sensitivity (β = −.320) and openness to change (β = .317) as the strongest predictors. Hierarchical regression demonstrated that sociodemographic variables (marital status, children) were non-significant, while gender attitudes accounted for an additional 33.4% of variance. A logistic regression predictive model achieved acceptable classification accuracy (AUC = .775). Two-step cluster analysis identified two distinct profiles: a tradition-oriented profile (60.2%) with lower self-realization and a professionally-oriented profile (39.8%) with higher self-realization.
The findings demonstrate that specific prescriptive femininity norms — rather than family circumstances per se — act as constraints on women's professional self-realization in male-typed occupations. These results carry implications for organizational psychology and career counseling, suggesting that interventions targeting rigid normative gender attitudes may be more effective than policies focused solely on work–family balance.

Keywords: Work–Family Conflict; Gender Stereotypes; Femininity Norms; STEM; Career Barriers; Gender Segregation