Repository: UIHistories Project: SWE - Proceedings of the First International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists [PAGE 306]

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DEVELOPING SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL TALENT IN U.S.S.R. by Mrs. Galina N„ Kadykova Doctor of Engineering, Academy qf Science Moscow, U.S.S.Ro

I am happy to have the opportunity to address you, women engineers and scientists of the United States of America as well as of other countries. If we look back as far as some decades, we may see that a woman engineer or scientist was very rare indeed. But at the present time and especially in my country, they represent a large portion of our engineers and scientists and have already made a contribution to the development of industry and science„ I would now like to tell you how women engineers and scientists live and work in our country,, Here in this hall are gathered together representatives of what we in our country call the "precise sciences", and they love facts, so let us begin with the figures. In the Soviet Union there are more than 409,000 women engineers; this means 31 percent of the total number of engineers of our country. It must be borne in mind that they work not only in so-called "women's professions", such as textiles and the food industry, but they play an important part as metallurgical engineers, machining engineers, constructors, geologists, and so on. Do not think that we try to push the men out of industry. As Valentina Tereshkova said, it makes it merrier to work together. The industry of the Soviet Union is developing so fast that there is a lot of work for everyone in our country. We have no unemployment at all. Women as well as men have done their best to transfer a backward agrarian country into a leading industrial state well-known now in the whole world by its achievements in science and technique. Many of them proved to be qualified skilled specialists capable of doing much to improve the national economy. They have the same rights in getting job, they are paid equally, and can be appointed to any leading post according to their education and capability. We have numerous women acting as directors, chief engineers of the plants, and heads of laboratories. In the large amount of innovations women take a great part. I myself work in the field of ferrous metallurgy which is the leading industry of the national economy of any country, where women were not admitted before. For the last 45 years the annual output of steel in our country has increased from 6.2 million tons in 1920 to 80.2 million tons in 1963. Women work here too, but much care is taken to make womens' work easier. The majority of them work in laboratories, management departments, research institutes, and so on. For example, in the Central Scientific-Research Institute for Ferrous Metallurgy where I work, there are more than 300 women engineers. There are 41 among them who have a doctor or a candidate degree. They are solving many problems of great importance in the science of metals. A-19