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Women's Careers in STEM: Barriers and Motivations
In order to develop effective policies to support women scientists, it is important to understand their current situation and the reasons why women choose or leave scientific careers. In Ukraine, there is no research that systematically analyses the working conditions, motivations, and challenges faced by women in STEM, particularly in times of war.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 further exacerbated the existing problems. The NAS of Ukraine’s report notes the significant impact of the war on the Academy’s activities due to the complications and deterioration of conditions for conducting full-fledged scientific work, the forced relocation of scientists abroad, and the complication of international cooperation.
In addition, women scientists face additional challenges: obstacles due to social stereotypes affecting the scientific field, as well as a significant workload due to the combination of scientific activities and caregiving responsibilities, which are often performed by women.
Our study aims to fill this gap and provide recommendations for improving the situation of women scientists in Ukraine.
The research was conducted by INSCIENCE and the Cedos Analytical Center within the framework of the “WOMEN IN SCIENCE” project, as part of the programme “EU for Gender Equality: Together Against Gender Stereotypes and Gender-Based Violence” (Phase 2), funded by the European Union and implemented jointly with UN Women Ukraine and UNFPA.
This research was conducted with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of UN Women and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Bibliographic information
Geographic coverage:
Europe and Central Asia
Ukraine
Subject areas:
Innovation and technology
Resource type(s):
Project/programme reports
Publication year
2025
Number of pages
128
Publishing entity/ies:
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)