Abstract
The article is devoted to the professional trajectories of women in politics and public administration. The empirical basis of the study was made up of semi-structured interviews with 20 informants from Kazakhstan with experience in central and local government, the Presidential Administration, electoral authorities, the state audit system, deputies and the civil sector, as well as with 10 Kazakhstani experts in the field of political science and gender policy. The comparative part included interviews with 8 experts from analytical centers and universities in China. During the thematic analysis, nine cross-cutting topics were identified: professional identity in managerial positions, career trajectories, formal and informal resources, combining professional and family roles, socialization and role models, behavioral adaptation, solidarity and competition, mentoring, as well as institutional mechanisms for women's participation in decision-making. A comparison of the Kazakh quota mechanism with the Chinese practice of systematic training and professional development of personnel shows that the sustainability of a women's career depends on a combination of several conditions: rules of representation, professional training, rotation, mentoring and the ability to maintain career continuity. Chinese interviews do not form a symmetrical national sample and are used primarily as comparative material.