The impact of gender factor on the formation of career aspirations of military personnel of the armed forces of Ukraine

The article examines the prevalence of a discrepancy in career aspirations among students attending military academies, with a particular focus on differences based on gender. The study uses the psycholinguistic research method, specifically a free association experiment. Two stimulus words were selected for the psycholinguistic experiment: ‘career’ and ‘family’. The word ‘family’ serves as an auxiliary stimulus in the experiment. A total of 102 students, all of whom were currently ranked as lieutenants and in their fifth year of studies at the Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology, participated in the experiment. The sample consisted of 74 male (n = 72.5%) and 28 female (n = 27.5%) participants. The study findings show that primary career motivation for both male and female respondents is the acquisition of social prestige, demonstrated through high status and rank identification, as well as a stable financial situation. Gender differences in career orientation lead to variations in conflict behavior strategies. Both men and women may use cooperation and competition strategies equally. However, in situations of conflicting interests, women tend to orient their social interaction towards confrontation and antagonism. The majority of both male and female respondents view the family as a potential for career advancement. However, some male respondents may experience high inter-role conflict between work and family. Women have various methods of resolving the role conflict between work and family. These include remaining childless, delegating child-rearing duties to their parents, and minimizing work responsibilities to allocate their physical and psychological resources to their family. To create more opportunities for women’s career success, it is recommended that military organizations provide training in integrative career approaches that can help service women approach career development in terms of their professional competencies rather than gender role stereotypes.