> Maybe because like men all over the world, Russian women aren't specially "encouraged" to go into tech?

I don't know how true this is now, but there's plenty of Soviet propaganda aimed at women telling them how they're an important part of the workforce too. They were certainly specially encouraged to go into "technology" of the time (or industry, as it was more commonly known in Soviet times).

http://russiatrek.org/blog/art/the-image-of-a-woman-in-sovie...

Witness for example how much more of a celebration international women's day is in the ex-Soviet countries than elsewhere.