The project team is pleased to announce that a new project, “From Career Roadmap to Career Boardmap: Building Institutional Support for Women Leaders in Academia in Ukraine”, was launched in 2026. This project builds on and expands the initiative launched as part of the “A Career Roadmap for Women’s Leadership in Higher Education in Ukraine” project. The project is being implemented as part of the gender equality programme of the Going Global Partnerships initiative by the British Council Ukraine.
Project partners:
- University of Bedfordshire (Luton, United Kingdom).
- Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics.
- ERI “Ukrainian Engineering and Pedagogical Academy”, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.
- “Innovation Generation” NGO.
The project coordinator from the ERI “Ukrainian Engineering and Pedagogical Academy” of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University is Professor Maryna VASYLIEVA, Deputy Director of the Institute.
Last week, the project team held two focus groups in Kyiv, which marked an important step in the transition from individual career tools to systemic solutions.
We would like to express our sincere thanks for your hospitality and partnership:
- EdCamp Ukraine.
- The Academy of Teacher Education at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.
- Mariupol University.
The focus groups brought together an active community of women leaders in Ukrainian higher education and provided a space for structured dialogue and collaborative creation.
During the sessions, participants:
- tested the Career Roadmap as a strategic career development planning tool;
- discussed real-life career trajectories for women in the academic environment;
- identified key success factors and systemic barriers;
- gathered ideas for transforming the map into an interactive board game – Career Boardmap.
The focus group participants were women who are already shaping the administrative landscape of Ukrainian education: vice-rectors, directors of education and research institutes, heads of departments, heads of research units, library directors, professors and researchers from leading universities and research institutions in Ukraine, including:
- Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
- Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University.
- Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman.
- Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design.
- Drahomanov Ukrainian State University.
- Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University.
- Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
- National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine.
- V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.
- Kherson State Maritime Academy.
- Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University.
- Mariupol State University.
- Institute of Higher Education of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine.
Focus groups have confirmed that there is a high demand in Ukraine for systematic support for women leaders in higher education, as well as significant potential for implementing institutional change.
This year’s project focuses not only on supporting the development of individual career paths, but also on creating the conditions for long-term institutional changes that will ensure a more inclusive, equitable and effective academic environment in Ukraine.
