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WOMEN'S DIVISION 1959 REFUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE 1625 EYE STREET, N. W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. WOMEN IN THE FEDERAL SERVICE Another outstanding "first" for a woman came in January of this year when President Eisenhower designated Dr. Hazel K. Stiebeling to receive the highest honor the country can bestow on its career civil servants, the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service. Dr. Stiebeling is Director of the Institute of Home Economics, Agricultural Research Service, Department of Agriculture. The President, in making the award, cited "her lasting contributions to the science of human nutrition and through this to the health of the American people. " The gold medal awards, given annually to five outstanding individuals, were initiated in 1958. They are awarded on the basis of selections by an Awards Board of which Secretary of Labor James P. Mitchell is Chairman. -I- Women constitute 24.2% of the federal Government entire civilian personnel. In December, 1958 the U. S. Civil Service Commission listed 573,941 women employees of a total 2,366,886 working in the federal service. Although the majority are engaged in clerical and related work, women are forging ahead at higher levels. Slowly but surely they are winning recognition on the policy=making level and in professional and semi-professional fields. Women in the last two categories have increased noticeably since World War II. Up-to-date lists of key officials contain women physicists, chemists, business economists, electronics scientists, mathematicians, and astronomers. There is a small but growing number of women doctors, lawyers, nurses, training instructors, engineers, psychologists, social workers, and biological scientists. On the eve of World War II there were only about 6,000 women in the professional classifications. The number has risen to an estimated 32,600, over 20% of all professional personnel. Also during World War II, when young men were called into military service, women moved into Eemi-professional, semi-scientific and semi-technical fields such as claims examiners, medical technicians, cartographic aides, library assistants. So valuable has been their service that they have continued in these positions. A survey by the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor shows that the Govern- ment hires women for jobs ranging from accountant to zoologist. Only one in six women in the federal service works in Washington, D. C., thus indicating that women have employment opportunities with the federal Government throughout the country. In addition to women civilian employees, women are welcomed in the four branches of the armed services. They now total 12,075 in the Army; 7,673 in the Navy; 1,910 in the Marines and 10,515 in the Air Force. There -1- 155

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