Entrepreneur or Group Member? Women in Science and Career Strategies in Russia and Germany

STEM is traditionally viewed as a male-dominated academic field that is less open and accessible to women scientists. In order to gain entry and pursue a career in this field, women can choose to adopt a specific gendered professional identity as a career strategy. When it comes to the adoption of gendered professional identities and perceptions of career success, how do Russia and Germany compare? What career strategies are being pursued by women scientists in these two countries? On the basis of semi-structured interviews with women in STEM disciplines at the NRU Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia) and the University of Tübingen (Germany), we analyse differences and similarities between these two groups of scientists. Further, we show how work environments and academic cultures can explain differences with regard to career strategies and perceptions of success. In Russia, women scientists tend to adopt more collective or group-oriented identities, while in Germany, professional identities are based more on the model of the individualistic, entrepreneurial scientist. We identify two main career strategies: blending in (Russia and Germany) and challenging (Germany). Russian women scientists’ perceptions of career success suggest the need to investigate alternative views of academic careers that are not limited to the model of the entrepreneurial scientist.