ABSTRACT
After a short period of enthusiasm which followed the collapse of the communist regimes in 1989, the East and the West are facing each other with growing confusion and disappointment. When dealing with apparently similar institutions in Western and postcommunist societies it is easy to assume the existence of similar attitudes, values, norms, and patterns of behaviors in the two populations. Female wages are 20 to 40 percent lower than those of men working in the same positions. According to the studies carried on at the beginning of the '80s, in all occupational categories gender influenced earnings to a higher degree than level of education, occupational position, age, job tenure, or membership in the communist party. The orientation of both genders toward the private sphere of social life makes them partners rather than competitors. In the '80s, the hierarchy of concepts with which respondents defined themselves looked as follows: a man, a Pole, a parent, occupation, and gender.
