Investigating the Central Asian Perspective on Working Women’s Level of Competence

Abstract

Numerous studies have revealed that women do not get equally paid as men do, and this can specifically impact working mothers to a higher extent. In Central Asian communities many women are underrepresented in high-status professions. Previous research has found that this can be from cultural influence, religious beliefs, and the consequence of the Soviet Union event that Central Asian countries were affected. The overall goal of this research was to find evidence to support that Central Asian women are affected by stereotypes and thus are seen as incompetent in the professional field. This is a follow-up study to Cuddy and Fiske (2004) that examined the Stereotype Content Model, with personalities competence versus warmth. A Google Forms survey was used, to record and compare the responses that rated people's personalities from four different conditions. The participants included were audience from Central Asian organizations and content creators, their ages ranged from 18 to 55 and up. The gathered data was examined through JASP (Anova). The results of this study suggest that working mothers are most impacted, as they are viewed as less competent and warm. With this information, future researchers should look into understanding how these stereotypes towards women, could influence the younger generations of girls in Central Asia.