Women in Authority in Ukraine

Video Transcript

I don’t think there are too many women in the Ukrainian military, so that’s unusual. And I think the women who come to Ukraine as military might feel there already might be questions, so that’s how Ukrainian guys would normally approach. They would be polite but they would want to verify the information provided with a guy. It’s not the rule of thumb, but that’s… I think they treat women nicely, but they still want male to male contact. That’s my understanding. It will really help if you set, if you provide them with background information, like your achievements, your education, what you have done, because that will put you in a role that will meet the high expectations, or the higher standards, so you will be as equal as they are. It might also help if a lower rank male colleague explains the situation beforehand to counterparts in Ukraine, saying, ‘Oh, just to avoid any misunderstanding, she’s a high-rank official. And we just want her to have a great experience.’ You know. I don’t think it’s that big of a problem to just say openly and straightforwardly, or say ‘She has worked on this project and that project, she has travelled to these countries, and assisted these countries with X, Y, and Z.’ That might be great. Even for males, this introduction might be helpful, but for women specifically, that might just put her in the context of equal relationship with the men.

A Ukrainian national talks about women in leadership roles in Ukraine.