The emerging identity of women managers in post-Soviet Belarus

Purpose – The paper critically reviews women managers' experiences of managing transition in post‐Soviet Belarus. The main aim of the paper is to explore the emerging learning experiences and learning practices of women managers in Belarus who are working in small and medium‐size business enterprises.Design/methodology/approach – The paper commences with an exploration of the country context. It then seeks to draw attention to ongoing economic, political and cultural transformations within Belarus with a view to highlighting ways in which these transformations have impacted on the professional identities of women in Belarus in the post‐Soviet era. Interviews with 16 female managers were constructed to investigate specific issues such as how women managers in Belarus learn to be managers, how they perceive their own positions within organisations, the ways in which women managers use learning strategies as sense‐making mechanisms, and the career‐related obstacles faced by women managers in Belarus.Findings...