Dr. Hopkins.
She looks like my uncle.
Posted on 01/18/2005 3:25:24 PM PST by neverdem
The president of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers, who offended some women at an academic conference last week by suggesting that innate differences in sex may explain why fewer women succeed in science and math careers, stood by his comments yesterday but said he regretted if they were misunderstood.
"I'm sorry for any misunderstanding but believe that raising questions, discussing multiple factors that may explain a difficult problem, and seeking to understand how they interrelate is vitally important," Dr. Summers said in an interview.
Several women who participated in the conference said yesterday that they had been surprised or outraged by Dr. Summers's comments, and Denice D. Denton, the chancellor designate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, questioned Dr. Summers sharply during the conference, saying she needed to "speak truth to power."
Nancy Hopkins, a professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who once led an investigation of sex discrimination there that led to changes in hiring and promotion, walked out midway through Dr. Summers's remarks.
"When he started talking about innate differences in aptitude between men and women, I just couldn't breathe because this kind of bias makes me physically ill," Dr. Hopkins said. "Let's not forget that people used to say that women couldn't drive an automobile."
The Boston Globe first reported yesterday about Dr. Summers's remarks and the stir they created.
Not all reactions were negative. Some female academics and the organizer of the two-day conference that Dr. Summers addressed on Friday at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit economic research organization in Cambridge, defended the remarks as a well-intentioned effort to speak candidly about the persistent underrepresentation of women in university departments of mathematics, engineering and physical sciences.
"A lot of people who absolutely disagreed with him were not irritated, and he said again and again, 'I'm here to provoke you,' " said Richard Freeman, an economics professor at Harvard who directs the bureau's labor studies program and invited Dr. Summers to speak. "He's very good at stimulating debate, but he cares deeply about increasing diversity in the science and engineering workforces, especially since we have many more women getting Ph.D.'s in science and engineering than ever before."
About 50 academics from across the nation, many of them economists, participated in the conference, "Diversifying the Science and Engineering Workforce: Women, Underrepresented Minorities, and their S. & E. Careers." Dr. Summers arrived after a morning session and addressed a working lunch, speaking without notes. No transcript was made because the conference was designed to be off-the-record so that participants could speak candidly without fear of public misunderstanding or disclosure later.
In his presentation, Dr. Summers addressed the question of why so few women were on math and engineering faculties at top research universities.
"I began by saying that the whole issue of gender equality was profoundly important and that we are taking major steps at Harvard to combat passive discrimination," he recalled in yesterday's interview. "Then I wanted to add some provocation to what I understand to be basically a social science discussion."
He discussed several factors that could help explain the underrepresentation of women. The first factor, he said, according to several participants, was that top positions on university math and engineering faculties require extraordinary commitments of time and energy, with many professors working 80-hour weeks in the same punishing schedules pursued by top lawyers, bankers and business executives. Few married women with children are willing to accept such sacrifices, he said.
Dr. Hopkins said, "I didn't disagree, but didn't like the way he presented that point because I like to work 80 hours a week, and I know a lot of women who work that hard."
In citing a second factor, Dr. Summers cited research showing that more high school boys than girls tend to score at very high and very low levels on standardized math tests, and that it was important to consider the possibility that such differences may stem from biological differences between the sexes.
Dr. Freeman said, "Men are taller than women, that comes from the biology, and Larry's view was that perhaps the dispersion in test scores could also come from the biology."
Dr. Summers said, "I was trying to provoke discussion, and I certainly believe that there's been some move in the research away from believing that all these things are shaped only by socialization."
It was at this point in his presentation that Dr. Hopkins walked out, and shortly thereafter, Dr. Denton told the Harvard president that she believed his assertions had been contradicted by research materials presented at the conference. Dr. Summers said he responded that "I didn't think for a moment that I had proven anything, but only that these are things that need to be studied."
A late phone call yesterday to Dr. Denton at the University of Washington, where she is the dean of engineering, was not returned.
Paula E. Stephan, a professor of economics at Georgia State University, said Dr. Summers's remarks offended some participants, but not her. "I think if you come to participate in a research conference," Dr. Stephan said, "you should expect speakers to present hypotheses that you may not agree with and then discuss them on the basis of research findings."
Catherine Didion, a director of the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists, said she was "surprised by the provocation in tone and manner" of Dr. Summers's remarks.
"Initially all of the questions were from women, and I think there was definitely a gender component to how people interpreted his remarks," Dr. Didion said. "Male colleagues didn't say much afterwards and later said they felt his comments were being blown out of context. Female colleagues were on the whole surprised by his comments."
Here's some smelling salts, dear.
"Let's not forget that people used to say that women couldn't drive an automobile."
Prudence dictates that I refrain from comment about the abilities of women drivers.
So, how many NASCAR drivers are women? F1? Indy?
Ok, so there were one or two drag racers (but those don't count, drag racers are just adrenalin junkies, not drivers).
Women do abound in adrenalin junkie fields. Skydiving. Aerobatic pilots. etc.
I think the real difference is the difference in "interest" that women vs. men have in a particular subject. Math and science just usually aren't there for women.
And your point is...?
Dr. Hopkins.
She looks like my uncle.
Here's some smelling salts, dear. Perhaps a dose of Lydia Pinkham's will restore your fragile constitution.
It was once argued that women just couldn't bear the physical and mental strain of the professions, and here comes Dr. Hopkins to give credence to those long-discredited arguments.
Mr. Summers was quoting research studies with statistical data, while Miz Hopkins is working with her "feelings."
'Nuff said.
Dr. Denton.
My uncle is prettier than her.
I'm guessing big K.D. Lang fan.
Arf.
Yes, that really is her picture.
For a woman, Dr. Hopkins had quite a rational response to Larry's remarks.
Dr. Hopkins said, "I didn't disagree, but didn't like the way he presented that point because I like to work 80 hours a week, and I know a lot of women who work that hard."
Riiight. The "personal" is "political" -- ain't no one ever heard that dodge before... sheez. Or even better:
"I didn't disagree with what he said... I didn't like the way he said it!"
I'm working up to a puke here... :>
I saw Dr. Hopkins on tv this AM with Ms. Kouric. When asked if she would like to sit down and talk to the miscreant, she would not commit. This is maturity at the ivy league level-I won't talk to him because I'm mad at him-not until he apologizes (her exact words were she'd have to see a change in attitude). Sorry Dr. Hopkins, but women ARE different.
*************
Makes sense to me. Dr. Hopkins only helped to prove Dr. Summers' case that women may be innately different. Instead of staying to argue his points, she was overcome by emotion and left.
I don't get this. . . as a female engineer with degrees in math and physics. Is it because I went to parochial school that I never thought twice about my major course of study?
Or because I had four sisters and no brothers? Or because my father, an engineer, supported my endeavor?
I didn't read anything about aptitude in Summers' comments. He was talking about the innate differences in the sexes and how they approach things. There is a difference, and most teenage girls are not interested in math and science because the feeling STILL persists in young women that being 'brainy' is a turn off to guys. At that point in their lives, getting a date is more important than solving quadratic equations. Grown women who no longer feel that tug may not like it and disagree, but you can't avoid the facts.
There are more women in the math and science fields than over before, and there is not the continued harassment and discrimination that women encountered in the past. Sounds like some of the women at this conference just decided they were gonna get their pantyhose in a twist, and wouldn't be dissuaded.
Ahem...
"Speaking Truth to Power" is exactly what Dr Summers WAS doing. In Academia today, the feminists ARE the power
This is typical politicization of science - what you say will never get taken on its face, it's all about whether it measures with the sensibilities of the protected class.
MIT's self-flaggelating study of women in faculty wasn't taken too seriously by anyone except those who wanted it to be true. In fact, MIT's new president Susan Hockfield was apparently on a board at Yale that debunked (or at least cited concerns with) the study.
"Dr. Hopkins said, "I didn't disagree, but didn't like the way he presented that point because I like to work 80 hours a week, and I know a lot of women who work that hard."
How did Nixon get elected? I don't know a single person who voted for him!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.