Women Managers in Belarus: Learning Strategies in Times of Transition

Christopher J. Rees and Galina Miazhevich

Abstract

The paper focuses upon aspects of the experiences and learning behaviours of women managers working in post-Soviet Belarus. The main aim of the paper is to explore the influence of the learning experiences and learning practices on the development of the identity of women working in business settings in Belarus. The paper commences with an exploration of the country context. It then seeks to highlight ongoing economic, political and cultural transformations within Belarus with a view to highlighting ways in which these transformations have impacted upon the working lives of career-oriented women in Belarus in the post-Soviet era.

The analysis is based upon empirical data obtained from a set of interviews with 16 women employed in business organisations in Belarus. The interviews were constructed to investigate specific issues such as how women in Belarus learn to be managers, how they perceive their own positions within organisations, the ways in which the women managers use learning strategies as sense-making mechanisms, the career-related obstacles faced by women managers in Belarus, and the place of work in their lives.

The final sections of the paper report the findings of the interviews. The findings indicate that women managers have adopted a variety of learning strategies to adjust to the changing nature of Belarusian society. Interestingly, these strategies involve both emphasising and denying traditional Soviet notions of femininity, at both the conscious and unconscious levels. The findings highlight that the women interviewed have had to learn to cope with a fragmented learning context that is devoid of established networking and mentoring systems that are accessible to women managers. As such, the interview data indicate that women are developing and adopting individualised learning strategies and mechanisms to enable them to survive and succeed within business organisations.

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