This paper is an attempt to provide an answer to the question: to what extend is the word "meritocracy" justified and correct for all modern societies especially post-Soviet countries. The focus of our attention is on the meritocracy in education discourse in the post-Soviet space namely in Ukraine, which some scholars view as a phantom, some as objective reality and others as a process from "not yet elite to elite". The goal is to contribute to a better understanding of merit-based education systems and in shaping gender disparities at universities
