Education in Ukraine has long been considered a “women’s domain,” and statistics confirm this, reports Humanitarian Media Hub citing Cedos research.
“War has slightly shifted the trends, but the overall picture remains unchanged: stereotypes influence career choices and, later, the labor market. Women overwhelmingly choose traditionally ‘female’ professions,” the text notes.
According to Cedos, men dominate technical and agricultural fields, while women prevail in teaching, medicine, and the humanities.
The education sector itself is highly feminized: over 693,000 teachers, and 80% of them are women. Every tenth employed Ukrainian woman works in education, while among men this figure barely reaches 2.8%.
In primary schools, the share of female teachers is almost absolute—99%. This imbalance has a flip side: leadership positions are mostly held by men. Among university rectors, only about 9% are women, and Ukraine saw its first female Minister of Education only recently.
Science shows similar patterns. Although nearly half of Ukrainian researchers are women, they are more likely to work in state institutions, while the commercial science sector—with higher salaries—remains “male.” Women are more numerous at the start of academic careers, but their presence drops sharply at the professor and leadership levels. The reasons are not about ability but social barriers: stereotypes, lack of mentorship, and the challenge of combining research with family responsibilities.
Read also: Bridging the Gender Pay Gap: Steps Toward Equality in Wages
