Women & Science

The President of Harvard University has apologised after suggesting women do not have the same natural ability in math and sciences as men.

I wonder, to use a phrase to annoy Jordan, this is politcal correctness gone mad again?

First let me say I believe one can have group traits, but I never ever think you should judge individuals solely on the basis of a group affiliation. Thus on an individual level I have absolutely no doubt that women scientists can be and are every bit as brilliant and talented as male scientists.

But the Harvard President was talking about why women as a group do not succeed as much as mens in math and science careers, and he said that innate differences between the sexes may help explain it.

Based on my recollections of brain studies, there are differences between men and women. Where men do tend to be better at certain brain functions and women better at others. Again not to say that an individual woman can not be the best maths scholar in the world, but as a typical group attribute.

Men and women are different, and not just with reproductive functions. Is it wrong to acknowledge this, as a factor in why fewer women than men succeed in science? Not the only factor, but one factor.