Political Sciences

In this paper I investigate the phenomena of social mobility of women
from patriarchal communities and the low rates of social upward mobility
of women having an ethnic minority background. The aim is to identify
the factors that influence access to higher education for Roma women living
in Romania. I examine the interaction between social, economic, cultural
and institutional factors. This paper offers a clearer understanding of the
interconnections between different factors in the decision making of women
from minority communities who seek a higher socio-economic status. The
results of this research are based on empirical evidence through qualitative
research. The paper has an interdisciplinary perspective, though the main
approach derives from sociology and political science (policy analysis). An
important input in this research comes from a gender studies perspective,
especially related to the analysis of the intersection between gender, class and
ethnicity.

In this paper I investigate how the gender dimension is configured in existing public policies
regarding the Roma minority. For this purpose, I analyze from a feminist perspective The Strategy of the
Romanian Government for the Inclusion of the Romanian Citizens Belonging to the Roma Minority for the
period 2012-20202. The main question of the present paper is: How can Romanian and European policies
increase the social inclusion of Roma women and improve their socio-economic status? In the first part of the
paper, I argue why ‘gender matters’ and why public policies have an important impact on the status of men
and women. Next, I draw attention to the fact that gender awareness has appeared in Romanian policies
primarily because of pressure from European institutions. Therefore, feminist speech and the values of gender
equality have not yet been internalized by Romanian policy makers. The Government’s Strategy reflects how
state institutions value men and women differently inside Roma communities and how power is unequally
distributed between the two genders. For the purpose of this paper, I examine whether the interests of
Roma women in Romania are represented in each one of the Strategy’s directions for action: education,
employment, health, housing, culture and social infrastructure. This analysis sheds light on the inability of
the Romanian state to account for gender issues, particularly ones faced by Roma women.