MASCULINITY IN THE TEMPORALITY OF THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR: EXPLORING STEM STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS


DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2520-2626/2025.38.17

Julia STREBKOVA, Iryna KRAVCHENKO

Abstract


Abstract. The article examines the transformation of masculinity constructs during the russian-Ukrainian war through the lens of visual metaphors. The study utilizes the "Modern Ukrainian Person" projective drawing technique, an adaptation of the Draw-a-Person (DAP) test modified for the educational process. The author describes the specific application of this methodology and the research procedures. The study focuses on visual representations within drawings created by STEM students at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
Student works from two distinct periods were analyzed: five years following the start of the russian-Ukrainian war (2014–2019) and three years after the full-scale russian invasion (2025–2026). During the first period, students produced hand-drawn works in a classroom setting. In the 2025–2026 period, the use of generative artificial intelligence was observed and recorded. The illustrations included in the article are drawings by undergraduate engineering students who provided oral consent for the use of their work in this research.
The identification of male images was conducted within a socio-cultural framework while avoiding gender polarization. Existential analysis of the first-period works revealed a high prevalence of symbols related to Cossack valor. In contrast, drawings from the second period demonstrated a stable semantic association between the "modern Ukrainian person" and "war," alongside manifestations of the temporal shock caused by the war.
Notably, the studied images incorporated elements of cyber-masculinity; specifically, the 2025–2026 drawings featured the emergence of "rehabilitative cyborgization"—the depiction of men with prosthetic limbs as a new reality of the war.
The findings confirm that drawing techniques can effectively foster creativity among future engineers. The study concludes that projective drawing methodologies require conceptual re-evaluation due to the widespread proliferation of AI-generated imagery.


Keywords


gender representations, the modern Ukrainian person, engineering education, rehabilitative cyborgization, visual metaphors, drawing-based methods

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