Siberian State Transport University. Women's work in Siberian industry in 1920s

The subject of the article is the problem of the involvement of women's labor in the industry of Siberia in the 1920s in connection with the transition from an agrarian to an industrial society. For the first time it began to be massively involved in all sectors of the economy, making the state to solve numerous problems associated with the regulation of these processes. The problems of expanding production and public employment of women, of increasing their qualification and level of general education, of improving their living conditions took an important place in the activities of public authorities, trade union and Komsomol organizations. In Siberia, the proportion of working women was generally lower than in the country because of the predominantly agricultural nature of the region. A low percentage of women among workers was explained by the fact that the industries where female labor traditionally predominated (such as textile, clothing manufacture) were underdeveloped in Siberia. Most of women worked at small enterprises. To conduct work among the women the special organizations was set up at all levels of the state's political system. In 1924, the People's Commissariat of Labor organized the Commission on Comprehensive Improvement and Study of Female Labor in Production. Similar commissions were set up in the regions. Their tasks were to analyze the status of women's employment in industry, to care of the professional development of working women', to employ of the unemployed, to control the observance of labor legislation, etc. Much attention was paid to the improvement of qualification of working women, because it was one of the reasons for the weak involvement of women in production. To improve the qualifications of working women the individual, group and brigade apprenticeship was used. Low wages corresponded to low qualification levels.

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