Woman shortage in science blamed on bias

NorthJersey.com ^ | 07.13.06 | LISA LEFF

[Donald Meaker]

My first wife worked in science. Most scientists in my expectation rejoice at anyone, male or female who can keep up.

It is fairly common for women to be able to keep up. It is rare to find women who think they need to. Still more rare are women who can keep up, that are attractive, and still think they should.

To truly be a scientist, you have to be more than a bit obsessive-compulsive. You have to give up so much else. It is a tough life. I am not one of those, but I know and honor one or two of them.

[NinoFan]

I'd love to know what he/she/it considered to be a complicated math problem.

[A. Pole]

Not "he" but she. She is a woman who is under delusion that she is a man.

Thinking that you are Napoleon or a chicken does not make you one even if the whole society shares you craziness.

[Jim Noble]

Woman shortage in science blamed on bias

Nah, they're just not that into it...

[puppypusher]

This story is a lot of BS.Just go to a major university affiliated hospital and you'll find there are more females becoming doctors then ever before.Where I work the females are out-numbering the males in many specialties.It won't be long before they run the place and that may not be a bad thing.

[Jim Noble]

his unique vantage point

What's that?

That she's psychotic, with a serious delusion about her body?

THAT vantage point?

[Incorrigible]

Girls just want to have Sums!

 

[rbg81]

Most science programs today (especially hard science, like physics, math, and CS) fall all over themselves trying to attract and retain women. If you're a woman, and can manage a C or above, you are flooded with job offers and opportunties in those fields. Even in the face of this, many women totally ignore these fields. And then they whine about a wage disparity.

[Pharmboy]

I DEMAND to know why there aren't more Amish in the NBA. Oh--I do have a few anecdotes to show that bias was indeed involved.

[taxesareforever]

Sounds like he wants to apply for a job at Harvard.

[pjd]

This is total B.S.

I researched this concept several years ago using U.S. Census data and found that even in fields that are traditionally dominated by women (no credible anti-woman bias) The ratio of women to men steadily decreases with advancing degrees. For example, if a particular field features 85 pct. women to 15 pct men at an undergraduate level, it would then show something like 55 pct/45 pct at the Masters level, and maybe 30 pct/70 pct at PhD. - And this in fields like health care, education and library science which have *many* more women than men at the entry level. It's not bias, it's biology!

In the hard sciences, advanced degrees are often essential and there are generally fewer women than men even at the entry level. So naturally, there are going to be much fewer women with advanced degrees in the hard sciences.

[NinoFan]

Mmmmm.... pi...

[A message]

Just go to a major university affiliated hospital and you'll find there are more females becoming doctors then ever before......It won't be long before they run the place and that may not be a bad thing.

Agreed.

My dad just had a significant surgery performed upon him yesterday by a woman doctor.

The lady doctor did a great job and I highly commend her skills, confidence, manners and ability. She is a top notch doc.

[maggief]

[Phocion]

As an Ivy League-trained neurobiologist who oversees a research lab at Stanford, Ben Barres feels qualified to comment on whether nature or nurture explains the persistent gender gap in the scientific community. But it wasn't just his medical degree from Dartmouth, his Ph.D from Harvard and his studies on brain development and regeneration that inspired him to write an article blaming the shortage of female scientists on institutional bias.

At the Ivy League university I went to, the majority of neurobiologists were women. My girlfriend there was one of them. In fact, women dominated biology in general.

Men dominated fields like physics and engineering, although women entering those fields received all kinds of institutional assistance, including scholarships and support groups. Not to mention hundreds of male engineers eager to help them with all of their homework. ;)

Maybe this professor needs some more up-to-date research.

[Pharmboy]

You're right...the data back you up. In high school, females consistently are graded higher than males, yet males do better on the SATs year after year in both verbal and math. This is likely due to the bias teachers have against boys and the favoritism shown towards girls. Good call...

[Calvin Locke]

I too, have had the occasional flash of insight...

So freakin' what? What does it prove?

Did she constantly outshine all the other brainiacs? Or was she an average genius in a school known for attracting geniuses?

[Secret Agent Man]

I graduated from MU's college of Engineering and yes, there are much fewer girls there than boys, and the number of girls (and guys) over the course of 4 years goes down even further. The girls who make it through generally are the cream of the crop and are, IMO, better than at least half of the guys who make it through.

The fact is I knew women who were there looking for husbands. I knew some women who changed majors into education or journalism because they couldn't handle the coursework. (Many probably could have if they had applied themselves, but it would've meant studying a heck of a lot more than I think they were willing to.)

Bottom line is that people have a choice what they want to major in, and many women don't want to go through what they need to (or maybe didn't prepare enough for advanced courses in high school) to be successful in engineering. The ones who do make it through generally are, pound for pound, better than many of the guys. (And I was lucky enough to marry one of them!)

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

Aside from his unique vantage point, the thrust of Barres' article is that neither Summers nor the prominent scientists who defended his position used hard data to back up the claim that biology makes women less inclined toward math and science. He cites several studies -- including one showing little difference in the math scores of boys and girls ages 4 to 18 and another that indicated girls are groomed to be less competitive in sports -- to support his discrimination argument.

[NewRomeTacitus]

While the majority of higher science degrees in the United States are being picked up by people with loyalties to opposing nations I say we should lay aside the petty bickering over distracting points and focus on getting more of our native-born into graduate degree tracks.

The intellectual drain is about to become apparent when more and more achievements will be accomplished by foreigners - who received the bulk of their education in America.