A: When you state that outliers are overwhelmingly male, she comes back with, "That's not true. I am one of almost 30% who are female."
Is 70% overwhelming? It might be so in a political election, but among mathematicians or bass players it might not.
I think it's fair to suggest that until about 25 years ago, mathematics was considered to be a male game. Girls were often told they didn't need four years of math in high school (which of course shuts off most scientific research as a career option). Non-traditional (read: older) students of mine have told me this happened to them. By now, in the early 21st century, cultural and legal barriers to women in mathematics and related fields have dropped away. Whether the percentage of PhDs given to women in mathematics (or related fields) evens up to 50% over time is hard to tell. But it's already up to 29%; I wouldn't call 71% male "overwhelming". I am willing to grant you that men are more visual/spatial/logical than women, but I don't think the difference is that great. It might be that eventually 60% of PhDs in math happen to go to men, or maybe 65%. But there are plenty of women in this biz, and many of them are very good.
When I was in college (late 70s) there was a big poster on the wall in the math department: Great Men of Mathematics. (This was produced by IBM if memory serves.) It was detailed and fascinating. And it is true that nearly all the great mathematicians on this poster were male. One of the several females on the poster was Emmy Noether. (Noether was a primary architect of modern abstract algebra; the importance of her work cannot be overstated.) The poster described her as "fat, rough and loud", and her German colleagues referred to her as "Der Noether" (employing the masculine article). On the other hand, in an earlier post, I mentioned Ingrid Daubechies. I've met her, she's rather feminine in her personal presentation.
I can't help mentioning, but years ago, I saw a presentation by Sheila Tobias, author and popularizer of the notion of math anxiety, especially pertaining to girls. I was bemused by her consistent mispronunciation of the name Noether as "No-ther" (the correct pronunciation is more like "Ner-ter").
By the way, in case you're wondering about megatherium, this giant ground sloth is the proud owner of a Y chromosome.
55 - "Q: How can you tell that a Math Ph.D. is female?
A: When you state that outliers are overwhelmingly male, she comes back with, "That's not true. I am one of almost 30% who are female."
Doctorate in MATH???
No wonder we are slipping in the US.