CURTAILMENT OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOVIET WOMEN (RR EM 6

Created: 3/1/1962

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Economic Intelligence Memorandum

CURTAILMENT OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOVIET WOMEN

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Office of Research and Reports

CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM RELEASE IN8

CM"TfDEfiTTJjVJ^

Economic Intelligence Memorandum

CURTAILMENT PROFESSIONAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOVIET WOMEN

CIA/RR2

Thla mayfia! contains' information nflicUng Iho National DefenW of the United Altnlci wttnin/he mcanlne/of the esplonarJ laws, Title rft.. InT traiu-mlsafon or rcvclatlosf of whkh In an/ manner to iii/iinauthorlwd fcraon Is prohlbiftd

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Office of Research and Re|>orts

Summary and Conclusions

1. Trends in the Proportion of Women Enrolled inSchools

2- Role of Women in Professional andlOns .

AppendIxes

Appendix A. Statistical Tables Appendix B. Source References

Tables

ercent of the Enrol lnent in VUZ'sin tbe USSR, Selected.

of Women In Selected Managerial Positions and

Major Professional Occupations ln the USSR,anuary

of VUZ'a and Tekhnlkuas, by Age and Sex, ln tbe

USSR,9

: C

ll

- Hi -

COPTAlXHHfT OF PROrSSSIOSAL- EMCATlOtfAi.SOVIET

Suncnary and Conclusions

The professional educational opportunities for Soviet women have been steadily curtailed during the past several yearn, largelyonsequence of changes in admission requirements lh.it place academic achievement second to military service and civilian work experience in thc selection of applicants for professional schools. Although the changer, were introduced ostensibly to "bring education closer to pro.

may haverowing concern

JUL 7oan nd"ance ofof professional schools

since 1OA0. As these graduates reach "nanagementhe USSKincreasingly dependent on women to fill high-level positions,current policies governing admissions to professional schoolsweighted in favor of men already in the labor forcethis

oin the college-ageed ^changed, but

nd Secondary

f If!- sharply Should

The estimates and conclusions in this memorandum represent theof thin Office as ofarch^ oest

I feline continue, the numerical predominance of women over men in such fields as medicine and education, as well as their relative impor-ereded and other Professional fields, will gradually be

1. Trends io the Proportion of Women Enrolled In Professional Schools

From theshen admissions were based almost exclusively on the academic record of the applicant, Soviet womenefinite advantage over Soviet men In gaining admission to Higher Educational Institutions (VUZ's) and Secondary Specialized Schools (Tekhnlxums). esult, womenajority of the student body during that period, ae shown ln The extensivebefore and during World War II and the maintenanceelatively Large military establishment In the postwar period drew heavily on the male population of college age during an extended period. This situation, as well as an apparent tendency for more women than men to finish highesulteduch larger number of qualifiedpplicants among females tnar. among males. At the Tekh.ilCans, which,ccepted for the moat part graduates ofear schoola who were too young for military service, another factor was operating to the advantage of female applicants. Thla factor was the "draft"ainly young males Just out ofear schoolforin Labor Reserve Schoola. Even during World War II, femalesonlyercent of the admissions to Labor Reserve Schools, and this proportion has ranged betweenndercent in the postwar period. 2/ Thus the sex ratio of graduatesear schools applying for admission to Tekhnlxums must have been heavily in favor of the

Beginning inmajor changes were made In the rules governing admission to VUZ's and Tekhnikuma. Tho selection procedure, instead of being based almost exclusively on the academic record of theplaced emphasis on work experience and statuseteran. Byeven honors graduates from tbe high schools were no longer granted any special privileges on applying to VUZ's, and firot priority was given to veterans. Tekhnlxums gradually modified their5ears toears of general schooling andpriorities similar to those for VUZ's. In the school year, first priority for admiaslon to VUZ's and TekhnikumB was given to persons recommended by Industrial and construction enterprises and state and collective farms, second priority to applicants recommended by the Coramunlot Party or trade unions, and third priority to veterans. In that year it was reported thatercent of the admissions to VUZ's,

idix p. elow.

or high-school age was about equallyfSS"ercent of high / (For serially numbered source references, see

ig J ii

Including admissions to correspondence and evening programs aa veil as fulltime duy programs, badr more years of military or civilian work experience. Among those id/tilt ted to fulltime dayad had the required experience. $j Por the current schoolhe rules governing admissions described above continued In force, k/ Thus, although completion ofyeor school continues torerequisite for admission to thc professional schools, thethat gave female applicants an advantage5 have been largely eliminated. Instead, thc entrance requirements either directly favor men, as in thc case of "veteran'sr place thein the hands of the Communist Party and other organs of social control that may tend to discriminate against women.

or

In addition to thesen undergraduate enrollment, the oportlon of women among graduate students (asplrantura) in the USSR also declined5 Women constituted onlyercent of the graduate students0 compared withercent This decline probably was relatedommensurate change ln the relative Importance of graduate study in such fields as education, the social sciences, and the humanitiesields tn which women predominate at the undergraduate level. The proportion of all graduate students enrolled in those fields fell fromercent toercent5hile graduate study in the physical and biological sciencesfields in which womeninorityincreased accordingly.

Role of Women in Professional and Managerial Occupations

Thc relatively high proportion of women among graduates ofschools in the USSR during theecades led inevitably to an expansion of their role in the major professional occupations. boutercent of Soviet physicians and dentists and alraostercent of teachers, economists, and planners were women. Their role was smaller, but nevertheless impressive, in such fields an engineering, agronomy, and law, as shown in

In managerial positions, however, the role of women was, in general, much smaller than In the professional occupations from which thesenormally are drawn. Thus, although women constitutedercent of all engineers, they held onlyercent of the high-level positions in Industrial ana other enterprises where alrost all such positions are held by engineers. Similarly, women held far fewer managerial posts in schools and hospitals than their relative numbers among teachers and doctors would dictate.

" Appendix A,elow.

At leant part oi* the explanation for thlo phenomenon is that,en outnumbered women bymong VUZ graduates who were more thanears of age andajority of Tekhnikum graduates in theses shown in These are the graduates who attended Soviet professional schools Ins, when tbe proportion of women in those schools was still relatively low. On tbe other hand, worsen outnumbered men among graduates who were less than Utl years of ageonstitutingercent of VUZ graduates andercent of Tckhnikura graduates. Thus the relative supply of qualified managers among men and women olderather thiui the relative supply of professional graduates of all ages probably hasey factor in the continuing predominance of men ln management posts and other positions of leadership during the postwar period.

* Appendix A, p. n, below.

During the nextears the graduates who currently are less thanyears of agemong whom womenarge majoritywill reach "managementut the full impact of this impending shift may be moderatedontinuation of current admloslon policies. Not only will the proportion of sen Increase among the graduating classes, but also the graduates will tend to be older because of toe priority given to veterans and to persons with work experience.

;

Table 2

Proper".lor. of Wooer. Id Selected Managerial Positions and Kajor Professional Occupations In tbe9

Percent

Kunagerlal Positions

Heads of government departments and theirof Party, Komsomol, trade union, cooperative, and other social

organizations and theirof enterprises (industrial, cor. struct ion, agricultural, forestry,

transportation, and communications) and their

Chief physicians and other heads of nedlcal

School principalsear elementary

Reads of publishing houses and their

Heads of trade organizations and

Heads of public dining

Heads of material and technical supply

Professional occupations

VUZ

Teachers (except

Economists and

U IL

m

j fill! Sill!

SOURCE REFERENCES

Evaluations, following the classification entry and designatedave the following significance:

of Information

ocumentary

ompletely reliable

euully reliable

airly reliable

ot usually reliable

ot reliable

annot be Judged

Information

- Confirmed by other sources

- Probably true

- Possiblyoubtful

- Probably false

- Cannot be Judged

Documentary" refers to original documents of foreign governments and organizations; copies or translations of such documentstaff officer; or information extracted from such documentstaffall of which may carry the field evaluation "Documentary."

Evaluations not otherwise designated aro those uppearing on the cited document; those designated "RR" are by the author of this Kovaluation Is given when the author agrees with the evaluation on the cited document.

All sources are evaluatedunless otherwise indicated.

1- Vcstniko u.

ufSR. SSR: statistlcheskly sbornlk (Women and Children In the USSR: tatistical Handbook)I,. U. (hereafter referred to ascr.shchlnv)

C-0

Narodnoye khozyayotvo9 godu (National Economy

of the USSR,- U.

Blcbolaa. Education andcplovnent in the

USSR.ff. U. Eval. RRrayda,pr 6l. U. 5- OSS*. VysaheyeSSR (Higher Education in the

,. U. (hereafter referred to as USSR. Vysaheye) USSR. Kul'turnoye atroltel' otvo SSSR (Cultum! Construction M.

Harodnnye khozyayBtvo0 godu (National Bconomy

of the,I,- U. USSR. U. "JSSB. O.

USSR, State Planning Commission. Socialist Constnictloo in the USSR,. U.

USSR. 7Jtenahchiny (l,. U.

USSR. - U.

- lU

oewrnw

OOWFIDEWTIAt?

Original document.

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