This macro-level survey partly serves as a preliminary study to a project, entitled "Women in the Economy: The Managers". In subsequent phases of research we will carry out interviews with women in powerful positions in the economy about their careers.¹
 

I. International Overview

The growth in the number of employed women in the last two decades in Western Europe has resulted in a noticeable increase in the percentage of women in the labour force. Figures in Western Europe are now approaching the fairly high, nearly 50% rate common in Central-Eastern Europe. One of the primary goals of socialist economic policy in Central-Eastern Europe was to intensively mobilise as much of the reserve labour force as possible and to thereby reach full employment. This was done to a considerable extent by increasing the numbers of women at the workplace. This process was backed by special party decrees which, among other things, aimed to raise women's education level and participation in management.²

Statistically, this 'forced emancipation' produced spectacular results. A number of studies have addressed the controversial nature of this process and its undesirable consequences for working men and women and for the whole of Hungarian, society (Koncz 1985).

In economically developed countries, the highest rate of female employment can be found in countries with planned economies and in Scandinavia. It is widely known, however, that as many as half of the women in these northern countries work part-time, thus managing to reconcile bread-winning activities with family responsibilities and household chores (Table 1).

Since statistics do not differentiate between full- and part-time jobs, there is scarcely any difference in measurements of women's work between countries with differing economic systems. However, significant differences can be pointed out between Northern and Southern Europe since in Mediterranean countries - with the exception of Portugal - the degree of participation of women in the workplace, and consequently in management, is relatively low.

In what follows we will initially review statistical and sociological data related to women managers. As no overall survey has been made thus far about this social group, the need for analysis is all the more pressing. First, using two sources, we will outline the proportion of women in top management in economically developed countries. Next we will review the same data for Hungary.

If, in reviewing international statistics,³ we simply look at changes in management over time, we will find a constant increase in the percentage of women in management. In the United States, for example, the number of women occupying managerial positions has climbed steadily since 1970: in 1988 38% of all managers were women, while by 1992 this figure reached 41%. Despite all these improvements only a very small percentage of women have been able to reach top managerial positions. According to sociological estimates not more than 2% of women reach highlevel positions: "What has changed is that more women are in management. What hasn't changed is that women are concentrated in the lower levels of management and hold positions with less authority overall than men" (Powell 1988:13, italics mine). International experience shows that the increase in the number of working women and of women in management does not necessarily mean that men's and women's positions are equal.

Other surveys indicate that in the Scandinavian countries 5-6% of managers in the private sector are women, and nearly twice this percentage are leaders in the public sector (Kovalainen 1990). In Great-Britain 8-10% of managers are women (Marshall 1984). European research has also corroborated American data: the higher the position in management, the less likely a woman will fill it. In the 1980s 4.2% of managers in Switzerland were women, 9% in England, 13.2% in Sweden and Norway, 4.4% in the Netherlands, 5.7% in Italy, and 14.4% in Finland. All in all, however, 1% or less of top managers are women. In all of these countries women comprise only a very small minority of managers.

Researchers analysing the social position of women managers have attempted to answer the following question for some time: 'Why are there so few women at the higher levels of the hierarchy? Does the absence of women originate from differences in men's and women's socialisation during early childhood (e.g., do women lack appropriate career motivation, abilities, or skills due to their socialisation) or does structural discrimination account for this? It is beyond the scope of this article to furnish a direct response to these questions. Nevertheless, our intention is to present evidence from available statistical data to prove the existence of discrimination against women.

Women play an insignificant role in political decision-making as well as in economic management: they are far less likely to occupy important administrative posts than men. Women are far less likely to be entrusted with high ranking assigments such as the ministerial positions. If we rank countries and regions, we find that Scandinavian women are the most likely to occupy important political and administrative posts, and to be top managers. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden more than 16% of all ministers are women. Interestingly, the nations which formerly had planned economies and forced emancipation policies (and, therefore, a relatively large number of women in the workplace) are at the bottom of this ranking, with the exception of Romania where six of the ministers in the government were women (Table 2).
 

II. Employees and Managers in Hungary

It is rather difficult to provide a comprehensive picture of women managers in Hungary because the statistical data available are insufficient to adequately allow us to sociologically characterize this group. Even surveys closely linked to women's employment have not paid enough attention to this field.

In what follows we will attempt to delineate the social and family backgrounds of women in top management positions. We will rely on surveys and secondary analyses supplied by the Hungarian Statistical Office, and on the results of the OTKA research program entitled "Managers' recruitment, identity and value-orientation".

Before analysing statistics on managers we should place this social group within the larger group of employees.
 

1. Changes in the Number of Male and Female Wage Earners

In Hungary, the economically active part of the male population did not increase during the 1970s, while the active female population grew from year to year until the 1980s. The economic recession and the appearance of unemployment affected both men and women. In contrast to international tendencies, unemployment affected men to a slightly greater degree than women. (In the autumn of 1992 the unemployment rate was 9.7% for women and 13% for men. Frey 1993:28). As a result of these factors women make up about 4b% of the working population today (Table 3).

Thus the proportion of women aged 15 to 55 who are actively employed has increased, although it still has not matched the proportion of working men. The decisive factor in this relative lag is that almost 1/10 of employed women are so-called inactive earners - on leave, receiving childcare allowance and aid. The 'stagnation' of the numbers of employed women in recent years might have been caused by the introduction of childcare allowance in 1967 and childcare aid in 1985 (Table 4).
 

2. Women in Higher Education

In the last few decades more and more women have appeared in the student bodies of higher educational institutions. The percentage of women attending colleges and universities has steadily risen and has even equalled the percentage of men attending the schools (e.g., faculties of law and economics) which grant the diplomas needed to attain higher positions (Table 5). The same trend is visible among students who have actually graduated from universities and colleges (Table 6).

The difference between men's and women's educational levels is thus now considerably lower, as men form a majority in only certain fields such as agriculture, technical sciences and veterinary studies. The theory of human capital - according to which sexual differences in jobs and incomes can be explained by the smaller 'investment' of human capital on the part of women - has thus been at least partially overturned. Nevertheless, data from the 1990 census draw attention to the fact that women are more likely to attend technical schools and colleges than (more prestigious) universities: "At universities only 35% of graduates are women while at technical and teachers' colleges this percentage is 54%" (Hrubos 1993: 10).
 

3. Characteristics of Women Managers⁴
3.1. The Percentage of Women Managers

A comparison of the data from the 1980 and 1990 census has led to some surprising findings. While the number of women who are active earners has grown slightly (especially among intellectuals), there has been a far more significant increase (30%) in the numbers of women managers and administrators. In 1980 one-fourth of such positions were filled by women, while by 1990 one-third of them were occupied by women. In round figures this means that in 1980 101,000 women and in 1990 132,000 women were managers, while the number of male managers decreased from 285,000 to 260,000 (Table 8).

What caused this 30% increase in the numbers of women managers and administrators? May we ascribe this change to the success of the equal rights movement? In searching for an adequate explanation we should be aware that, because of the above mentioned processes in the labour market (namely the decrease in the percentage of employed men and the growth of women's employment) the sexual division within this category has changed. Women's chances were improved by their growing participation in higher education. In addition, more women are to be found at lower levels than at higher levels of the managerial hierarchy (Table 9).

We might suggest that in 1990, male managers showed a preference for top positions in the private as opposed to the public sector. Our suspicion is supported by the fact that the percentage of men considered 'independent' entrepreneur (i.e., directors of companies) has risen considerably faster than the percentage of women in such positions.

On the other hand, as is clear from the data, the number of women managers increased so greatly between 1980 and 1990 that their presence can no longer be ignored. An even more significant change has occurred in high administrative posts: the percentage of women occupying such posts doubled between 1980 and 1990. Women now make up 1/3 of this group. Four leaders out of ten are women in local governmental administration. The percentage of women directing political organisations (parties, political movements) has almost reached 40%. All these changes took place at a time when a bare 7% of the members of Hungary's Parliament were women (Table 10).
 

3. 2. Managers and Age

According to data from the 1990 census, the majority of women managers were between 30-55 years of age, while men were slightly younger. Men gained managerial positions earlier and - partly due to the higher retirement age - they remained in responsible positions longer (Table 11). Our observation of this age discrepancy is confirmed by research carried out among the economic elites (see section 4). The data indicate that it is fairly difficult for women to reconcile their careers with family life, since both are founded at approximately the same period - that is, the first few years after starting work. Fewer conflicts arise if ambitions are temporarily suspended. This might also explain why women only achieve positions at lower levels of the hierarchy. This does not imply, however, that all women are aware of this dilemma. Instead, we assume that the problem is dealt with according to society's expectations, and that women who have just started their careers do not regard themselves as at a disadvantage to men.
 

3.3. Managers and Their Qualifications

An analysis of the data provided by the Hungarian Wage and Labour Office and the Hungarian Statistical Office in 1983 came to the conclusion that managers were inadequately educated (Székely 1986). Despite the marked improvement in educational levels, many managers had no degree from any institute of higher education. Women managers were much more likely to occupy positions without proper qualifications than their male colleagues (Table 12). The need, then, to simultaneously meet the goals set by personnel policy and professional requirements caused difficulties.

If we attempt to deal with professions in which people work exclusively in management, then we have a much larger group to study (Table 13). As the data indicate, directors of larger social and economic units possess the most advanced degrees. The highest qualifications are to be found among public administrators. In their case 90% of men and 79% of women possess a higher degree. In local government administrations at least 2/3 of the employees have diplomas. The discrepancy in qualiFcations between men and women is most marked in the management of companies. One-fourth of the men and almost half of the women in top positions have no college or university degree. The lowest educational levels can be found among commercial and catering management, where only 12-14% of men and 5-8% of women possess a diploma. People in these groups mainly graduated from secondary schools with A-level exams. Commerce and the catering trade play an especially important role in the employment of women. Twenty-three thousand of the 132,000 women managers work in these fields. Here, new enterprises also play their role, since women show special preference for starting businesses in these two particular fields.
 

3.4 Managers and Incomes

The discrepancy in earnings between the genders is significant, not only among active earners, but quite strikingly among managers as well. In 1991 the difference in average monthly salary between the genders among white-collar workers was 36.6% in the private sector and 33.2% in the public sector - both in men's favour (Table 9).

An analysis of the salary categories of men and women managers indicates that almost 1/2 of all men and hardly more than 1/4 of women belong to the highest category (Table 14). Why is there such a marked difference in earnings between men and women managers?
 

3.4.1. Geographic Factors Affecting Earnings

The discrepancy in earnings between those working in Budapest (the largest city in Hungary) and the rest of the country has been widely known for a long time. This difference is even greater along gender lines. On the basis of salary statistics we can distinguish between three categories: Budapest, towns, and villages. In each case the proportion of women is 1/4-1/3. The earnings attainable in higher positions decrease as we move from Budapest to smaller localities. Monthly salaries are lower and lower (in the case of both genders) and women considerably fall behind in earnings in smaller towns. While male managers living in smaller towns earn scarcely 76% of what is earned by those in the capital, female managers are in an even worse position - they pull in only 63.7% of what their counterparts in Budapest earn. Women managers in the countryside are at a disadvantage in several respects: they fall behind in earnings both in comparison to men and to women living in Budapest (Table 15).
 

3.4.2. The Hierarchy
Surveys about incomes at companies, co-operatives, enterprises, and state-financed institutions which employ more than 50 workers most clearly shed light on the reasons for the discrepancy in earnings between men and women managers. As a result of the standardisation of data, the "difference between the genders is relatively low at the same levels of the hierarchy" (A keresetek 1993:8). If we focus solely on managers, the 30% difference mentioned above is considerably reduced (Table 16). The same applies to companies employing less than 50 people. The first striking phenomenon to be noted is companies than at private companies. The other - less surprising - fact is that the higher we climb in the hierarchy, the lower the ratio of women to men and the greater the difference in earnings. Only a few women can manage to get into top positions.⁵ We are back again to the root of the problem: it is not the discrepancy in earnings that is significant, but rather the different participation rates between the genders in top management.

Unfortunately, we cannot calculate the monthly per-capita salary of women managers' family from the data collected in Hungary. An analysis of the surveys conducted abroad leads us to suspect that women managers' households are in a much better condition financially than the families of their male counterparts. This is because both the husband and wife in these families are likely to be earning high incomes (Rosener, 1990).
 

4. Women in the Economic Elite

Now we should turn to the most disputed and most interesting group - the members of the economic elite.⁶ They form a small homogeneous group within the statistical category labelled 'managers and leaders' in the census. 16% of the economic elite were women according to the survey performed in 1990. This result corresponds to the percentage measured in the 'manager A' category mentioned above, and to international findings.

Every manager in the economic elite possesses the necessary degree, either from a college or from a university. Even within the economic elite men differ from women according to position held: 30% of men in the sample worked as top directors or as deputy directors, while only 5% of women occupied these positions. In contrast, 25% of women were heads of department as opposed to 9% of men. An analysis of career paths makes it quite clear that men began their careers earlier. Women obtained their first managerial positions sometime between their 31st and 40th year, while 1/3 of men had already become managers by the age of 30 or even earlier. (This correlates with our findings in the category of managers and leaders.)

Women in top management have a disadvantage with respect to private life as well as to position held. We found a considerable difference in the marital status of the informants. Male managers have better chances in the 'marriage market' than the rest of the male population of the same age. Their marriage rate is higher than the average: 92% were married and 6% divorced. In contrast, women managers are less likely than their 'inferiors' to be married: 2/3 were married, 1/4 divorced and 1/10 single. As a consequence, women managers have fewer children than the average woman. They live in smaller households, quite frequently by themselves. Having analysed the differences between the genders, we have come to the conclusion that women managers have to pay a heavy price for obtaining high positions and for advancing within the hierarchy in a male-dominated world.
 

5. Two Elections in Hungary⁷: Women in Politics

In the last decades economic and political as well as ideological factors influenced women's employment. Bills were passed and social movements worked with the intention of raising the educational level of women and their participation in management. The figures have indicated that more and more women are taking part in the economy, in public administration, in party and mass organisations. As we already pointed out when discussing qualifications, the correspondence between political correctness and education was not altogether successful in many cases. Poorly prepared 'token women' promoted into top positions have done much harm to equal rights. This form of forced emancipation undoubtedly accounts for some of the serious prejudices against career-oriented women.

Even before the fall of the socialist regime the social and political role of men and women was approached in very traditional terms in Hungary (Tóth 1990). This rather conservative attitude was articulated in the local government and (especially) parliamentary elections, where the male and female spheres (public versus private life) were sharply distinguished. Women's participation in public life has considerably decreased. The higher the position and the greater the constituency, the less likely women will serve as representatives. In 1990, the rate of women in local governments was higher than among parliamentary representatives and mayors (more than 15%). The percentage of women mayors is markedly lower, approximately 10% (Table 17). In the case of the parliamentary elections, 9% of the candidates and eventually 7.3 % of the representatives were women. Aside from the National Electoral Coalition, which nominated the most female candidates, only the Young Democrats and the Free Democrats had more than 10% women among their nominees. Following the elections only two out of these three political organisations won seats in Parliament, and both in the opposition; thus, it is not in the least surprising that the percentage of women in Parliament is exceedingly low (Table 18). Among the parliamentary factions women are most poorly represented in the governing parties where the ratio of women does not reach the average of 7.3%. There are more women representatives in the opposition parties: in the Hungarian Socialist Party some 15% of representatives are women (Table 19).

Society, in essence, has voted for men to take over the responsibility of running the country. Moreover, during the formation of the new government and the political changes, women's special interests were not taken into consideration. Hardly any role - not even a symbolic one - was entrusted to women in the executive power. Just one woman became a minister (without portfolio) in the cabinet formed in 1990, and women are present in the high administration of the ministries in an insignificant number (four people, see Table 20).
 

III. Conclusions

In this survey, which relies primarily on international and Hungarian data, we intended to take a close look at women managers' position in the economy and in society.

According to both international data and Hungarian trends, more and more women have attained top positions in the recent past. Thus their percentage and outright numbers have gradually increased within the group. In spite of these improvements, men and women do not have equal chances of advancing in the hierarchy, or of achieving top positions.

Differences in opportunities between men and women cannot be explained by their differing educational levels, since just as many women as men study in higher educational institutions (except for in the technical universities and colleges). The different activity ratio between the genders does not provide a satisfactory explanation either, for almost half the active wage earners are women.

Women's chances are often reduced because starting a family and embarking on a career coincide. Analysis of the age-group divisions, and of data on marital status, supports this observation.

Women have fewer chances to occupy more prestigious and responsible positions, and are usually found at lower levels of the hierarchy. The discrepancy in earnings within the group of managers is quite high, although the standardisation of positions conceals the majority of these differences.

Women play a relatively insignificant role in political life. In analysing the composition of Parliament, the Cabinet and the local governments we have come to the conclusion that disproportionately more men than women are entrusted with responsible positions, particularly in larger constituencies.

The survey focussing on the economic elite has indicated that even within this group women obtain lower positions. In addition, women managers quite often sacrifice their private lives for a career.

Society apparently does not appreciate women who break with tradition and advance their careers. In the last decades forced emancipation has produced just the opposite effect of what its planners intended. Women are not in the least encouraged to strive for top management positions by the social-economic milieu. Instead they are exposed to traditional expectations. They are pressured into making a choice between family and career, rarely feeling free to harmonise the two. The interviews we have proposed to carry out could help us to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of the decisions women are obliged to make.
 

References

1980. évi népszámlálás (Census 1980), vol. 22: Foglalkozási adatok 1. (Employment data I). Budapest: KSH, 1981.

1990. évi népszámlálás (Census 1990), vol. 3: Összefoglaló adatok (Summary data). Budapest: KSH, 1992.

A keresetek színvonala, szóródása és kapcsolata a családi jövedelemmel (The Standard of Earnings, Their Range and Relation to Family Income). Budapest: KSH, 1991.

A nõpolitika dokumentumai 1970-80 (Documents of Women Policy). Budapest: Kossuth, 1981.

A nõk helyzetének alakulása a KSH adatainak tükrében 1970-1981. ('The Changes in Women's Positions as Reflected in the Data of the Hungarian Statistical Office) Budapest: SZEKI, 1982.

Andorka, R.-T. Kolosi.-Gy. Vukovich (eds.), Társadalmi riport 1990 (Social Report 1990). Budapest: TÁRKI, 1990.

Andorka, R.-T. Kolosi-Gy. Vukovich (eds.), Társadalmi riport 1992 (Social Report 1992). Budapest: TÁRKI, 1993.

Frey, M., "Nõk a munkaerõpiacon" (Women in the Labour Market), Társadalmi Szemle, 1993, 3, pp. 26-36.

Hrubos, I., A férfiak és a nõk iskolai végzettsége, szakképzettsége (The Education and Qualifications of Men and Women). MS.

Képviselõi Kézikönyv (Handbook of Parliamentary Representatives). Budapest, 1990.

Kereseti arányok szakképzettségi, illetve beosztási szintek szerint 1991 (Earnings According to Qualification and Position 1991). Budapest: KSH, 1993.

Két választás Magyarországon 1990-ben (Two Elections in Hungary in 1990). Budapest: KSH, 1991. Kovalainen, A., "How do male and female managers in banking view their work roles and their subordinates?", Scandinavian Journal of Management, vol. 6, 1990, 2.

Magyar Statisztikai Zsebkönyv 1992 (The Pocket Almanac of Hungarian Statistics 1992). Budapest: KSH, 1993.

Marshall, J., Women Managers - Travellers in a Male World. London: Wiley, 1984.

Mohr, K. (ed.), A Magyar Közélet Kézikönyve (The Handbook of Hungarian Public Life). Budapest: MTI-Sajtóbank, July 1993.

Mûvelõdés- és Közoktatásügyi Minisztérium. Statisztikai Tájékoztató. Felsõoktatás 1990/91 és 1991/92 (The Statistical Report of the Ministry of Education on Higher Education, 1990/91 and 1991/92). Budapest: 1991 and 1992.

Nõk a mai magyar társadalomban (Women in Present-day Hungarian Society). Budapest: KSH, 1989.

Parlamenti választások 1990 (Parliamentary Elections 1990). Budapest: MTA Társadalomtudományi Intézet, 1990.

Powell, G. N., Women and Men in Management. London: Sage, 1988.

Preuss, E., Die Frau als Manager. Vorurteile, Fakten, Erfahrungen. Bern: Paul Haupt, 1987.

Rosener, J. B., "Ways Women Lead", Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec. 1990, pp. 119-125.

Székely, J., Adalékok a gazdasági szférában dolgozó felsõ szintû vezetõk iskolai végzettségének elemzéséhez (Contributions to the Analysis of the School Qualifications of Managers in Top Positions in the Economic Sphere). "Szociológiai Mûhelytanulmányok" Series, No. 5. Budapest: MKKE, 1986.

The Economic Role of Women in the ECE Region Development 1975/85. New York: United Nations, 1985.

Tóth, O., Nézetek, vélemények a nõk munkavállalásáról (Beliefs and Opinions on Women's Employment). MS.

Women in Govemment: Statistical Ertract from the DAW Data Base on Women in Decision-Making, 1990 Vienna: Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), 1992.

Year Book of Labour Statistics 1992. Geneva: ILO, 1992.
 
 

Table 1. Female labour force as a percentage of total labour force, 1975, 1984, 1992 and of the major group 2, 1992⁸

	1975	1984	1992	major group 2
Western Europe
Austria	40	41	41	16.4
Belgium	34	38	42	-
Denmark	41	45	46	14.7
Finland	46	47	47	24.8
France	37	39	43	-
Germany	37	39	41	23.3
Ireland	27	29	31	15.1
Italy	30	35	37	-
Luxembourg			36	12.0
Netherlands	28	35	40	15.9
Norway	38	43	45	26.7
Sweden	43	47	48	-
Switzerland	34	35	38	-
United Kingdom	37	40	43	-
North America
Canada	37	41	45	40.8
United States	39	43	45	40.7
Eastern Europe and USSR
Belorussia			49	-
Bulgaria	47	49
Czechoslovakia	45	46	47	-
Estonia			50	-
German Democratic Republic	50	52
Hungary	44	45	46	58.2
Latvia			50	-
Lithunaia			49	-
Poland	42	43	45	15.6
Rumania	36	40	46	-
Russia			49	-
Ukraine			49	-
USSR	51	51
Southern Europe
Greece	30	31	37	10.1
Portugal	38	43	43	18.9
Spain	21	30	36	9.7
Turkey	36	35	31	5.3
Yugoslavia	38	39

The Economic Role of Women in the ECE Region, p. 13, Year Book of Labour Statistics 1992, 38-49 and 176-193.

Table 2. Women in government offices⁹

	Ministries		Female ministers
	economic, political and legal	social	number	%
Austria	1	3	2	12.5
Belgium	6	1	1	4.8
Bulgaria	3	0	1	5.9
Czechoslovakia	0	0	0	0.0
Denmark	15	14	4	16.7
Finland	0	3	1	7.1
France	5	1	0	0.0
Greece	3	4	1	4.3
Netherlands	4	1	1	5.9
Ireland	0	2	2	10.0
Yugoslavia	0	0	0	0.0
Canada	8	5	6	14.3
Poland	0	1	1	3.7
Luxembourg	0	0	0	0.0
Hungary	0	1	1	5.3
Malta	0	0	0	0.0
United Kingdom	5	2	1	4.8
German Democratic Republic	11	1	1	2.9
Federal Republic of Germany	5	2	2	10.0
Norway	8	4	6	33.3
Italy	0	1	0	0.0
Portugal	2	1	1	6.3
Rumania	17	6	6	13.0
Spain	1	2	2	9.5
Switzerland	0	n.a.	0	0.0
Sweden	4	10	6	25.0
USSR	2	2	1	1.2
Turkey	0	0	0	0.0
USA	29	11	2	10.5

Source: Women in Govemment, p. 6.

Table 3. ¹⁰ Male and female labour forre (thousand)

Year	Men	Women	All	Percentage of Women
1970	2933.5	2055.2	4988.7	41.2
1980	2866.8	2202.1	5068.8	43.4
1990	2513.7	2013.5	4527.2	44.5
1992	2276.5	1965.3	4241.8	46.3

Sources: 1980. évi népszámlálás, vol. 22, part 1, p. 65; 1990. évi népszámlálás, vol. 3, pp. 86-87, Magyar Statisztikai Zsebkönyv 1992, p. 23.

Table 4. Labour force participation rates

	Labour force as a percentage of population
Year	15-59 years male	15-54 years female
	population
1949	89.7	34.5
1960	91.4	53.3
1970	85.6	64.3
1980	85.9	73.2
1984	86.2	73.8
1990	80.4	69.6

Sources: Andorka et al. 1990, p. 94., Andorka et al. 1992, p. 29.

Table 5. Women in higher education

	1981		1984
	number	ratio	number	ratio
	(thousand)		(thousand)
Total	31.8	50.1	34.5	51.7
pedagogy	6.0	73.4	18.6	73.4
medicine	4.4	56.8	4.1	54.4
sanitary	0.9	92.0	1.1	96.3
economics	3.4	61.5	3.9	64.6
law, state administration	1.4	50.8	1.8	57.3
technical	3.2	17.6	2.6	15.3
rural	1.5	28.3	1.3	31.2
veterinary	0.1	15.8	0.1	19.5

Source: Nõk a mai magyar társadalomban, p. 23.

Table 6. Women possessing a diploma (percentage)

University, college	1990	1991
University of Law	48.0	48.1
Universiy of Economics	50.5	50.3
Technical Universities	18.8	20.0
Technical Colleges	15.4	16.0
Economic Colleges	74.8	71.2
College of Trade and Catering	68.5	68.5
College of State Administration	80.7	80.8

Sources: Mûvelõdés és Közoktatásügyi Minisztérium Statisztikai Tájékoztató, Felsõoktatás 1990/91, pp. 155, 160, Felsõoktatás 1991/92,. pp. 150-173.

Table 7. Percentage of women students in higher education in the academic year 1991/1992

	Women's percentage
Universities:	55.2
Faculties of Law	52.7
Faculties of Economics	46.6
Technical Universities	15.1
Technical Colleges	18.4
Economic Colleges	67.8
College of Trade and Catering	65.4
College of State Administration	68.8

Source: Hrubos 1993:12.

Table 8. Women in different occupational groups

Percentage of women among	1980	1990
economically active population	43.4	44.5
white collar occupations	57.7	60.6
leaders and managers (total)	26.2	33.7
technical	8.7	12.1
legislation, administration
economic, trade	38.0	46.6
medical, cultural	47.7	55.0
accountanry, banking, financial	45.6	46.8

1980. évi népszámlálás, vol. 22, pt 1, pp. 228-231, 1990. évi népszámlálás, vol. 3, pp. 86-87 and 90-91.

Table 9. Distribution of white collaremployees in the hierarchy

	companies		public administration
	men	women	men	women
manager A	5.1	0.9	3.6	0.5
manager B	7.3	2.1	4.4	0.7
leader A	8.9	4.2	5.2	1.3
leader B	12.1	1.9	6.1	4.1
leader C	29.4	9.4	1.3	2.2
subordinated	37.2	81.5	79.4	91.2
white collar employees	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0

Source: Kereseti arányok szakképzettségi..., Table 8.

Table 10. Women's proportion in management (percentage)

Occupations	1960	1970	1980	1990
technical director, chief engineer	1.7	4.2	5.2	7.4
leaders in central public administration	8.1	11.8	16.4	33.9
leaders in local government	12.5	15.3	27.9	40.1
parties, mass organisations	n.a.	n.a.	26.7	38.7
companies, institutes	7.4	6.4	15.5	24.6
co-operatives	2.4	2.9	7.4	13.0
commercial manager	n.a.	n.a.	55.4	62.8
catering manager	n.a.	n.a.	54.7	51.6

Sources: A nõk helyzetének alakulása, pp. 33-34,1980.évi népszámlálás, vol. 22, pp. 228-231, 1990. évi népszámlálás, vol. 3, pp. 86-87 and 90-91.

Table 11. Distribution of leaders and managers by age groups

Age group	Men		Women
	thousand	proportion	thousand	proportion
14-19	0.6	0.2	0.4	0.3
20-24	6.7	2.6	3.3	2.5
25-29	16.2	6.2	6.7	5.0
30-34	29.8	11.5	16.5	12.5
35-39	45.3	17.5	27.8	21.1
40-49	98.8	38.0	57.5	43.5
50-54	32.7	12.6	17.2	13.0
55-59	25.5	9.8	2.3	1.7
60-	4.2	1.6	0.5	0.4
Total	259.8	100.0	132.2	100.0

Source: 1990. évi népszámlálás, vol. 3, pp. 86-87.

Table 12. Ratio of incongntence among top managers in the economy

Position	Men		Women
	total number	lack of academic degree (%)	total number	lack of academic degree(%)
Directors	3055	28.1	237	45.1
Technicalvice directors	1818	14.7	78	34.6
Business vice directors	1487	33.3	769	48.4
Trade vice directors	438	29.5	29	27.6
Traffic, telecommunication vice dir.	54	27.8	3	33.3
Other vice directors	693	18.6	89	27.0
Total	7545	25.2	1205	44.8

Source: Székely 1986:31.

Table 13. Educational level of leadets and managers

	Men
	primary school or less	vocational school	secondary school	university college
technical director, chief engineer	321	239	2507	6763
central, public administration	-	1	180	1629
local government	73	19	848	2394
parties, mars organisations	31	19	362	712
companies, institutes	237	251	2671	9942
co-operatives	256	184	1674	3583
commercial managers	1794	2471	4943	1309
catering managers	740	1352	2594	765
	Women
	primary school or less	vocational school	secondary school	university college
technical director, chief engineer	44	18	192	528
central, public administration	-	-	254	677
local government	35	7	717	1521
parties, mass organisations	27	8	284	391
companies, institutes	217	73	1690	2303
co-operatives	48	19	458	326
commercial managers	4122	5281	7302	878
catering managers	1338	962	2651	436

Source: 1990. évi népszámlálás, vol. 3 , pp. 102-103.

Table 14. Distribution of managers among earning categories

	Men	Women
3001-4000 Ft	-	1.6
4001-5000 Ft	0.2	3.5
5001-6000 Ft	1.3	4.4
6001-7000 Ft	1.3	3.7
7001-8000 Ft	3.0	8.8
8001-10000 Ft	13.7	14.1
10001-12000 Ft	13.7	16.6
12001-15000 Ft	22.2	19.6
15000- Ft	44.6	27.7
	100.0	100.0

Source: A keresetek színvonala, szóródása..., pp. 61 and 63.

Table 15. Monthly gross eamings of managers by settlements

	Men	Women	Female/male earnings	Proportion of women in group
Budapest	17827	14797	83.0%	35.4%
Other cities	15076	11500	76.3%	27.6%
Villages	13549	9419	69.5%	33.7%
Total	15678	12334	78.7%	31.6%

Source: A keresetek színvonala, szóródása..., pp. 23-24.

Table 16. Monthly gross earnings of women in managerial positions as a percentage of male earnings

	Female/male earnings (percentage)	Proportion of women (percentage)
companies with more than 50 employees
Manager A	85.5	15.0
Manager B	96.3	22.3
Manager C	101.4	32.1
Leader A	97.4	13.6
Leader B	80.1	24.2
Institutes of public administration
Manager A	73.9	12.2
Manager B	84.4	13.7
Manager C	88.6	20.0
Leader A	72.9	40.2
Leader B	76.7	62.9

Source: Kereseti arányok szakképzettségi..., tables 8 and 9.

Table 17. Representatives and mayors of local government

	Men	Women	Total
Representatives of local government
Settlements with less than 10,000 inhabitants
number	15253	2907	18160
proportion	84	16	100
Settlements with more than 10,000 inhabitants
number	2513	377	2890
proportion	87	13	100
Mayors
Settlements with less than 10,000 inhabitants
number	2082	263	2345
proportion	86	14	100
Settlements with more than 10,000 inhabitants
number	115	4	119
proportion	97	3	100

Source: Két választás Magyarországon, tables 2.1.1. and 2.2.1.

Table 18. Parliamentary candidates 1990

Party	Men	Women	Percentage of women	Distribution of women
MDF (Democratic Forum)	400	25	5.9	7.9
FKgP (Smallholders Party)	313	20	6.0	6.3
KDNP (Christian Democrats)	189	16	7.8	5.1
SZDSZ (Free Democrats)	297	39	11.6	12.3
Fidesz (Young Democrats)	170	26	13.3	8.2
MSZP (Socialist Party)	364	40	9.9	12.7
independent	175	15	7.9	4.7
MSZDP (Socialist Party)	201	26	11.5	8.2
MSZMP (Socialist Workers Party)	199	20	9.1	6.3
HVK (Patriotic Election Coalition)	272	48	15.0	15.2
Agrárszövetség (Agrarian Association)	228	10	4.2	3.2
Magyar Néppárt (Populist Party)	152	13	7.8	4.1
Vállalkozók Pártja (Entrepreneurs Party)	120	11	8.4	3.5
others	111	7	5.9	2.3
Total	3191	316	9.0	100.0

Source: Két választás Magyarországon, table 1.1.1.

Table 19. Distribution of MPs 1990

	Men	Women	Proportion of women in factions (percentage)
MDF (Democratic Forum)	156	8	4.9
FKgP (Smallholders Party)	41	3	6.8
KDNP (Christian Democrats)	20	1	4.8
SZDSZ (Free Democrats)	84	8	8.7
Fidesz (Young Democrats)	19	2	9.5
MSZP (Socialist Party)	28	5	5.1
independent	10	1	9.1
Total	358	28	7.3

Source: Parlamenti választások 1990, pp. 600-607.

Table 20. Leaders of ministries by sex

	1990
	men	women	percentage of women
	number
Minister	13	0	0.0
Secretary of state	23	1	4.3
Deputy secretary of state	39	3	7.7
Total	75	4	5.2
	1993
Minister	13	0	0.0
Secretary of state	26	3	11.5
Deputy secretary of state	44	1	2.3
Total	83	4	4.8

Source: Képviselõi Kézikönyv 1990, pp. 125-130, A Magyar Közélet Kézikönyve, July 1993, pp. 52-57.
 
 
 
 
 
 

1. This research was supported by the Research Support Scheme (RSS) of the Central European University and by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA).

2. For the party decision in 1970 and its execution, see A nõpolitika dokumentumai.

3. This study seriously challenges the reliability of the international statistics, namely the data provided by ILO. It is highly questionable whether we can compare the data of censuses of different countries, since they are collected using differing methods. Therefore we have tried to supplement these data with other data from more specific sources. The greatest defect of the survey is ascribable to the fact that it contains information gathered in 1989, thus neglecting the changes in the last four years during which countries have disappeared, been separated or created.

4. Generally, three categories are distinguishable among the white-collar workers in the census: managers and leaders, subordinate administrators, management workers. As we lack more detailed classification, we analysed only the fairly heterogeneous group of managers and leaders.

5. The category of 'managers A' on the top of the hierarchy is not in the least homogeneous. Besides the director of the company, the chief engineer and the chief accountant are also included in this category. Heterogeneity is prevalent among other categories as well.

6. The economic elite consists of managers working in the top positions of economic life and management. The article entitled "Managers' recruitment, identity and value-orientation" was a product of a research program led by György Lengyel and Tamás Rozgonyi at the Sociological Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Sociology Department of the Budapest University of Economic Sciences in the spring of 1990. The program was financed by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund. During the research we studied three sub-samples in the economic elite: 1. top leaders in the organisation of economy (Ministry of Finances, Ministry of Industry, National Planning Office), 2. the top managers in banking, and 3. top managers of the state-owned industries. Three-hundred-und-seventy-one people responded to the questions. There were 61 women among the respondents.

7. The title was borrowed from a publication (Two Elections in Hungary in 1990), edited by the Hungarian Statistical Office.

8. ILO statistics use the ISCO (1968) occupational groups. In this table the data of the second major group have been shown, e.g., 'Administrative and managerial workers'. This major occupational group consists of two subgroups ('Legislative officials and government administrative' and 'Managers') but the statistics do not give the data separately.

9. Data refer to 1989, and to the positions from ministerial rank to lower executive ranks such as deputy under secretary, assistant secretary, comisssioner general, or director according to the hierarchy of the country in question.

10. In Hungarian statistics unpaid family members, who help in family business, are considered as economically active population.