I’d Become a Scholar if Taught… Is a Young Scholar’s Family a Benefit of a Burden? (Based on the Biographies of the Physicist A. A. Glagoleva-Arkadieva and the Historian of Physics O. A. Staroselskaya-Nikitina)

In the article the role of the parental family at the initial stage of professional career of a young woman scientist is analyzed based on the biographies of two women, who belonged to the first generation of Soviet women scientists: an internationally renowned physicist, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics A. A. Glagoleva-Arkadieva (1884-1945) and a major historian of physics, Candidate of Historical Sciences O. A. Staroselskaya-Nikitina (1885-1969). The influence (or lack thereof) of the family on the further professional success of women scientists of this generation is also considered. A. A. Glagoleva-Arkadieva came from a large family of a provincial priest; her parents did not support their daughter's desire to get higher education and could not help financially; O. A. Staroselskaya-Nikitina was left an orphan at an early age, in her youth she had to help her younger brothers, so none of them could count on family support in the period of higher education. However, both girls received secondary education due to the professional status of their fathers: the daughter of a priest at a diocesan college and the daughter of a staff captain at the Nikolaevsky Orphan Institute, which opened the way for them to further study. The article focuses on the study of the economic support factor for a young female scientist from her family and the impact of this factor on further professional career building.