Mariya Shcherbyna is a scholar with a long-standing research trajectory, she studied Philosophy of Culture at Karazin Kharkiv National University (Ukraine), where she earned her Ph.D. with a thesis on mythological elements in the cultural forms of everyday life, work that laid the foundation for her ongoing interest in gender stereotypes as a form of mythological thinking. 

Her research also focuses on gender studies and intersectionality including:

– STEMM gap and women scientists, 

– HerStory, feminist epistemology, epistemic injustice,

– intersections of gender, war and forced migration, including war-induced transformations in women's practices and identities 

Prior to her current position, she served as Associate Professor at V. Dahl East Ukrainian National University and as a member of the Anti-Discrimination Commission at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
She was a Comenius Fellow at Siegen University and also holds an affiliation with Politecnico di Torino. 

Book Chapters

Shcherbyna, M. (2025). Beauty practices and Ukrainian women refugees in the context of Russia–Ukraine war: Another double bind (pp. 109–129). In J. Muller (Ed.), Women and their body: A cultural and historical struggle against tradition. De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111396934

Shcherbyna, M., & Zvyeryeva, O. (2024). Rsn pzd: Obscenity in Ukrainian women's voices throughout Russian invasion of Ukraine. In M. Shevtsova (Ed.), Feminist Perspective on Russia’s War in Ukraine: Hear Our Voices (pp. 129-155). Lexington Books.

Shcherbyna, M. (2024). Obscenity and Ukrainian women amidst Russia's aggression in Ukraine. In F. Galofaro & P. Sorrentino (Eds.), Il senso della pace: Prospettive sulla semiotica della guerra (pp. 207–223). Mimesis.

Articles and Conference Proceedings (the selected list)

Shcherbyna, M., & Havlin, T. (2025). Intersectional trap of (in)visible identities and belongings: Between engagement and entrapment of displaced Ukrainian women scientists. Gender Studies, 24(1). doi.org/10.2478/genst-2025-0002

Shcherbyna, M. (2025). Unequal knowledge, unequal health: Addressing gender gaps in STEMM. In Proceedings of the VIII International Interdisciplinary Scientific and Practical Conference "Gender. Ecology. Health" (pp. 98–101). KhNMU.

Shcherbyna, M., Leontieva, V., Siliutina, I., Sumiatin, S., & Shket, A. (2024). Inclusive culture in the real and virtual educational communication. Revista de Educación y Derecho, (29), 1–29. doi.org/10.1344/REYD2024.29.43727

Shcherbyna, M. (2024). Inclusion, culture of inclusion and education: Phenomenon and significance. In R. Tamborrino (Ed.), Strategie di adattamento e patrimonio critico / Adaptive strategies and critical heritage (Vol. 4, pp. 669–676). AISU International.

Bongiovanni, M., Shcherbyna, M., & Gervasio, F. (2024). From invisibility to recognition: First women engineers at Politecnico di Torino. In History of engineering: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference (pp. 557–568). Cuzzolin.

Shcherbyna, M., & Prokopenko, O. (2024). It helps me to fight: Socio-cultural perceptions and artistic expressions of women's anger amidst Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In O. Smolina (Ed.), Modern and contemporary culture: Research, heritage protection, socialization (pp. 139–155). Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Falzea, L., Temporin, G., Colombelli, A., Montorsi, A., & Shcherbyna, M. (2024). STEM e genere. Uno sguardo interdisciplinare alla pratica sociale di genere e ai modelli ideali di lavoratori in accademia STEM. In Crossing gender. Sociology meets other disciplines: Book of abstracts (pp. 113–117). Gender Studies Research Network – Italian Sociological Association.

Shcherbyna, M. (2023). Displaced scientists from Ukraine to the EU: Why do we need a gender lens? In Between the worlds of old and new homes: Proceedings of the 5th International Conference (pp. 21–22). Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Shcherbyna, M. (2023). Navigating identity and experience: Ukrainian women scholars in the social sciences and humanities in the context of Russian-Ukrainian war and forced migration. In Emotional intelligence in wartime and post-war times: Proceedings of the International Scientific-Practical Conference (pp. 22–23). KhNMU.

Shcherbyna, M., & Shket, A. (2023). Schools, education, and gender: Points of interaction. In Problems of cultural identity in the situation of modern dialogue of cultures: Materials of the XVI International Scientific Conference (pp. 125–131). National University of Ostroh Academy.

Shcherbyna, M. (2021). Role models as a factor of women's inclusion. In Interaction of international and national law through the prism of globalization and integration: Proceedings of the All-Ukrainian Scientific-Practical Conference (pp. 119–123). V. Dahl East Ukrainian National University.

Shcherbyna, M., & Shket, A. O. (2021). Gender stereotypes in the hidden curriculum as manifestations of mythological thinking. In O. O. Smolina & O. S. Ukhov (Eds.), Modern studies of culture and art: Materials of the All-Ukrainian Scientific-Practical Conference (pp. 34–36). V. Dahl East Ukrainian National University.

Science Communication Works

Strelnyk, O., & Shcherbyna, M. (2023, November 8). Forcibly displaced Ukrainian women scholars: Gendered challenges of research, care, and building a new identity. Geschichte der Gegenwart. (Visit)

Shcherbina, M. (2021). What unites Isabella the Catholic, Dolores Ibarruri, Mother Teresa and Marie Curie? Preventing gender discrimination in Spanish school content. Krona Gender Information and Analysis Center. (Visit)

Shcherbina, M., & Marushchenko, O. A. (2020). Review of the results of the round table "Metamorphosis of the center and periphery in the medical, gender and age dimensions of inclusion." Philosophy of Education, 26(1), 333–343.

Selected interviews

Bassignana, F. (2024, March 1). Borse di studio per la scienza e per la parità di genere: Le ricercatrici del Politecnico Mariya Shcherbyna e Sara Muccio raccontano i progetti. La Stampa. (Visit)

Stamin, C. (2024, March 1). "Da Kharkiv a Torino, qui la vita è bella: ora mi batto per le donne nella scienza." La Stampa. (Visit)

Selected projects

"Beading the Womantory" - International Scientific, Art and Educational Project 

An international community art project making women's contributions in science, technology, politics, and the arts visible through beaded art and lectures. Founded and led by Shcherbyna, the project unites 34 beaders from 8 countries and maintains a permanent exhibit at the Kharkiv Museum of Women's and Gender History (Gendermuseum).

"Le Prime" - Pioneering Women in STEM. A research and art-education team project recovering the obscured histories of pioneering female scientists, engineers, and architects at Politecnico di Torino. Shcherbyna contributed archival research, historical contextualisation, and co-authored exhibition texts and academic publications. (Visit)

Women in STEM (WIN STEM) – Just The Woman I Am (Politecnico di Torino) A research project investigating the root causes of the STEMM gender gap in Piedmont and developing strategies to enhance women's participation and leadership in science and academia. 

Ideal STEM Academic Model (successful Women & Science Chair grant at Université Paris Dauphine‑PSL) A team project examining gender biases embedded in the "ideal worker" model in STEM academia. Contributions include qualitative analysis, interview design, and co-authored publications.