Career Paths of Women in Science: Comparative Analysis of Women’s Perception of STEM Sphere in Russia and Germany

STEM is still perceived as a field in academia which tends to be male-oriented and less promising for women career. To succeed in such environment women have to adjust to the rules by adopting certain professional identity which can be seen as career strategy. The aim of this research is to investigate what gendered professional identities women adopt in STEM in Russia and Germany as a career strategy in order to succeed as scientist by taking into account work environment and perceptions of success in these environments. This project based on the analysis of 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews with women who works in STEM in Russia (HSE) and Germany (Tubingen University). The findings underline that women construct their gendered professional identities in relation to the work environment and the dominant ideas of success in this environments. There is more than one perception of success and that should be addressed as it provides new outlook on the roles and the way of work in case of Russia. Overall, individualistic and group oriented identities are more nuanced by contexts which allow women to adapt identities in the sense of blending in (different in Russia and Germany) or challenging (exist mostly in Germany) in the field of STEM. The main difference is perception of the feminine qualities – in Germany adaptation of the “soft skills” for leadership, while in Russia skills are used for teaching. Research contributes to the discussions on the identity construction and provides perspective of the different environments, by looking at the perceptions of career success as it is seen by women.