Research Associate Makes Report on Soviet Science

An associate of the University's Russian Research Center has prepared a report on science and technology in Russia, currently being studied by the National Science Foundation and other government agencies.

The report, "Education and Professional Employment in the USSR," will be released to the public in February. Nicholas DeWitt '52, an NSF fellow, used his work on three years of research and on observations of visitors to the Soviet Union.

DeWitt estimated in the report that Russia is "way above" the United States in training engineering students. The Soviet Union has intensified its program in the last decade, he said, "and we have at the change and will feel it even more in the future."

Engineers Encouraged

Ten years ago, according to the report, one-third of the college graduates in the USSR were engineers, and in 1965 an ultimated 40 per cent of Russian graduates will hold engineering degrees. Only ten per cent of American graduates are going into engineering work.

Russia has 3.5 million higher education students, compared to the U.S.'s seven million, and has produced 1.5 million scientists to this country's one million.

Liberal Arts Ignored

DeWitt said yesterday, however, that the Russians have stepped up their technological training at the expense of the liberal arts. The Soviets lack the "cultural wealth of the humanities," he maintained.

Requested by the NSF, the report examines Russia's manpower, its use of the manpower, its pattern of employment, and its training of scientists.