Gender Dimension of Local Development: Research Results From Kragujevac

Abstract

This text presents results from the survey on gender equality in one local community, the city of Kragujevac. The research is one in a series of "Gender Barometer" type of research which has been undertaken in the region of Southeastern Europe, since 2002. The specificity of those studies is that they focus on gender differences from the perspective of everyday life. This research in Kragujevac has followed that logic, but it also included more specific questions related to the inquiry of attitudes of citizens, along gender lines, in relation to their life in the local community. Research results have shown that the great majority of both women and men are uninformed, disinterested and reluctant to take a more active role in local decision making. In most cases, there are greater similarities than differences between men and women, but differences remain in those areas which can be more closely related to traditional gender roles. Critical opinions about the local governance increase with the level of education, especially among women. It is also interesting that equality between genders is much more pronounced in decision-making in the private sphere than in the public sphere. However, dominant gender differences remain in spheres of paid and unpaid work, with women much more often spending time working, but not in a form of employment, but as part of the unpaid economy of care.