Women in Science: Against All...

Conference on the Legacy and Future of Feminism

April 11, 20081

Rosalind Chait Barnett, Ph.D.

Community, Families & Work Program

Women’s Studies Research Center

Brandeis University

Women in Science:

Against All Odds


April 11, 20082

There are at least three gender

stereotypic beliefs that are

widely held, often repeated,

and taken to bolster the idea

that women’s under-

representation in math and

science is inevitable.


April 11, 20083

• Women have never made it into the

ranks of the most accomplished

mathematicians and scientists.

• Innately, women don’t have what it

takes to succeed in math and

science.

• Women’s brains, cognitive skills,

motivations, and hormones are

deficient.


April 11, 20084

Women have never made

it into the ranks of the

most accomplished

mathematicians and

scientists.


April 11, 20085

European Renaissance:

14th -17th Centuries


April 11, 20086

Amazing abundance of male

super-star scientists


April 11, 20087

Nicholaus

Copernicus

(1473 - 1543) called

the founder of

modern astronomy

Galileo Galilei

(1564-1642) called the

"father of modern

observational astronomy",

―modern physics", & the

"father of science".

Pierre de Fermat

(1601 - 1665 )

generally regarded as

the greatest number

theorist of all times

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

one of the most important

scientists in the field of

astronomy, having been the

first to explain planetary

motion

v


April 11, 20088

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-

1727) the greatest

mathematician of his

generation and considered

one of the foremost scientific

intellects of all time.

v


April 11, 20089

During this extraordinary

period, what were the

women doing?


April 11, 200810

Elite women had only two life

options:

• An arranged marriage

• Life in a convent


April 11, 200811

For elite women, annual pregnancy was

the general rule; contraceptives were not

widely introduced until the 18th century.

Fraser, A. (1984). The weaker vessel: Knopf.


April 11, 200812

What was

convent life like?


April 11, 200813

Is it any wonder that the pursuit

of science was then and has

continued to be deemed a male

pursuit?


April 11, 200814

With the Protestant

Reformation and the decline

of convent life, other

obstacles to women’s

education emerged in

Europe and in the U.S.


April 11, 200815

―As the brain develops, the ovaries

shrivel‖ (Fausto-Sterling, A. (1985). Myths of gender. New York: Basic Books)

―Education will undermine their

health and that of their future children‖

―Education will decrease their

willingness to do housework or obey their

husbands‖

―Education will lead to their inclusion

in men’s activities and to taking over

men’s jobs‖v


April 11, 200816

Are universities hostile places for women faculty?


April 11, 200817

Does the peer-review system evaluate

women and men on an equal basis?


April 11, 200818

Two Swedish scientists noted that

female scientists applying for

prestigious fellowships at the

Swedish Medical Research Council

(MRC) during the 1990s had been

less than half as successful as

male applicants.

Wenneras, C., & Wold, A. (1997). Nepotism and sexism in peer-review. Nature, 387(22 May), 341-343.


April 11, 200819

Three subjective evaluation

parameters:

1. Scientific competence,

2. Relevance of the research

proposal, and

3. The quality of the proposed

methodology.


April 11, 200820

The inference is that women earned

lower scores because they were less

productive.

But were they?


April 11, 200821

Did men and women with equal objective

scientific productivity scores receive the

same subjective competence ratings by the

MRC reviewers?

NO!


April 11, 200822

Wenneras, C., & Wold, A. (1997). Nature, 387 (22 May), 341-343.

Figure 1: The mean competence score given to male (red squares) and female (blue squares) applicants by the

MRC reviewers as a function of their scientific productivity, measured as total impact. One impact point equals one

paper published in a journal with an impact factor of 1.


April 11, 200823

To be awarded the same competence

score as a male colleague, a female

scientist would have to produce

approximately three extra papers in

high-impact journals such as Nature

or Science or 20 extra papers in

excellent specialist journals such as

Atherosclerosis, Gut, Infection and

Immunity, Neuroscience or Radiology.


April 11, 200824

In sum, a female applicant had to be

2.5 times more productive than the

average male applicant to receive the

same competence score.


April 11, 200825

This study provides direct

evidence that the peer-review

system is subject to sex bias.


April 11, 200826

Women don’t have what

it takes to succeed in

math and science!


April 11, 200827

A meta analysis of math aptitude scores

from 4,000,000 students, found that sex

differences were tiny.

Hyde, J. S., Fennema, E., & Lamon, S. J. (1990). Gender differences in mathematics

performance: A meta analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 107(2), 139-155.


April 11, 200828

Gender differences in mathematics performance

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Standardized Scores

Females

Males

Effect size = 0.15

Source: Hyde, J. S., Fennema, E., & Lamon, S. J. (1990). Gender differences in mathematics performance: A

meta analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 139-155.

Num

ber

of

People


April 11, 200829

Tests compared math scores of grammar

school kids in the U.S., Taiwan and Japan.


April 11, 200830

• Spelke--five "core systems" at the foundation of mathematical reasoning.

• First, a system for representing small exact numbers of objects — the difference between one, two, and three. (5 mos.)

• Second, understanding numerical magnitudes —the difference between a set of about ten things and a set of about 20 things.

• Third, a system of natural number concepts that children construct as they learn verbal counting. This takes place between about the ages of two and a half and four years.


April 11, 200831

• Fourth and Fifth are systems first seen in children when they navigate: understanding the geometry of the surrounding layout and identifying landmark objects.

• There is, she notes, a biological foundation to mathematical and scientific reasoning that emerges in children before any formal instruction. These systems develop equally in males and females.

• “There’s not a hint of an advantage for boys over girls in any of these five basic systems.”

v


April 11, 200832

No.

Average performance High performance

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

nu

mb

er s

co

rin

g 9

0-1

00

%

girls

boys

Are Boys Better at Representing Numbers?


April 11, 200833

No.

(Spelke, LaMont & Lizcano, aggregated data)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

4-8 years (N = 47)

percen

t co

rrect

perfo

rm

an

ce

girls

boys

Average performance High performance

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

4-8 years (N = 11)

nu

mb

er s

co

rin

g 9

5-1

00

%

girls

boys

Are Boys Better at Representing Objects?


April 11, 200834

Are Boys Better at Learning to Count?

No male advantage on average or at

the highest levels.

0

10

20

30

40

50

1 2 3 4 5 6 counter

Highest known number

Nu

mb

er o

f p

arti

cip

an

ts

boys

girls

3 year-old children


April 11, 200835

Map-Reading

Children typically begin to

understand map tasks at about 4

years.

Considerable variability in map

reading at all ages.


April 11, 200836

Are Boys Better at Map Reading?

No.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

percentile score

nu

mb

er o

f p

arti

cip

an

ts

girls

boys

4 year-old children


April 11, 200837

Women’s brains, cognitive

skills, motivations, and

hormones are deficient.


April 11, 200838

Brain Structure


April 11, 200839

“men have

―systemizing‖

brains, whereas

women have

―empathizing‖

brains”

(Baron-Cohen, 2003, p. 27)


April 11, 200840

Brain Structure

Male Systematizing Brain Female Empathizing Brain

Mastery of hunting Making friends

Mastery of tracking Mothering

Trading Gossiping

Achieving & maintaining power ―Reading‖ your partner

Gaining expertise

Tolerating solitude

Taking on leadership roles

Using aggression

– Simon Baron-Cohen, The essential difference: The truth about the male and female brain. New York: Basic Books, 2003.


April 11, 200841

Brain Structure

• ―The brains of men differ from the brains of

women in several ways. Men have larger brains

with more neurons (even correcting for body

size) though women have a larger percentage of

grey matter. Since men and women are equally

intelligent overall, the significance of these

differences is unknown.”

- Steven Pinker


April 11, 200842

Cognitive Skills


April 11, 200843


April 11, 200844


April 11, 200845

In the experimental group, both male

and female college students improved

with training on the mental rotation test.

However, females showed greater

improvement than males, such that the

prior gender differences were

substantially reduced on the mental

rotation task.

Feng, J., Spence, I., & Pratt, J. (2007). Playing an action video reduces gender differences in

spatial cognition. Psychological Science, 18(10), 850-855.


April 11, 200846

IMPLICATIONS

• Visuospatial skills can be learned, they are

neither innate nor immutable.

• Training with an appropriately designed

action-video game could play a significant

role as part of a larger strategy designed

to interest women in science and

engineering careers.


April 11, 200847

All students with low scores on

a test of visuospatial ability

were encouraged to enroll in a

course to improve these skills.


April 11, 200848

The gains made by students on

these spatial-skills tests as a result

of participation in the course were

statistically and materially

significant.


April 11, 200849

Hormonal Differences


April 11, 200850

Boys’ higher level of testosterone

causes them to strive for

dominance, exhibit more

aggression and competition.


April 11, 200851

Men Women

Developmental

Stage Level Range Level Range

Prenatal & First 7

mos.

60 15-120 3 1-10

1-7 yrs old 3 1-10 3 1-10

8 until puberty 100 20-300 15 3-30

Young adult 600 200-1,000 50 15-100

60 yrs old 300 30-600 30 3-60Goldstein, J. S. (2001). Table 3.1, War and gender: How gender shapes the war system and vice versa. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Typical testosterone levels by developmental stage

and gender (in nanograms per deciliter of blood.)


April 11, 200852

Testosterone Social Behavior

Testosterone


April 11, 200853

Women are not motivated to

work long hours.


April 11, 200854

―Given the hours people work, it should come

as no surprise that many employees (63

percent) would like to work less. There is no

difference in the proportions of men and

women who would like to work fewer hours,

and both would reduce their current total work

week by about 11 hours on average if they

could.

Bond, J. T., Galinsky, E., & Swanberg, J. E. (1998). The 1997 national study of the changing workforce

(No. W98-01). New York: Families and Work Institute.)


April 11, 200855

From 1997 to 2007

Fewer Mothers Prefer Full-time Work


April 11, 200856

• ―Part-Time Looks Fine To Working

Mothers; 60% Prefer It to Full-Time Washington Post, July 12, 2007

• Work or stay at home? It’s still a

quandary; Moms struggle with guilt

over their choices. USA Today, October 3, 2007

• Gap widens in how moms view

working USA Today, July 12, 2007

• The Full-Time Blues The New York Times, July

24, 2007

• Moms eye part-time jobs to achieve

work-life balance The Christian Science Monitor,

September 17, 2007


April 11, 200857

Were the conclusions

supported by the Pew

Research Center Study?


April 11, 200858

Sample of Mothers

1997 2007

Full-Time 32% (N=101) 24% (N=54)

Part-time 48% (N=152) 60% (N=155)

Not working 20% (N=63) 19% (N=49)

Total Mothers 317 259


April 11, 200859

Reports of work-hours preferences ―are

very sensitive to question wording‖ (p.

620). Some questions ―are less than

ideal because they do not mention

income and may thus encourage

respondents to report the number of

hours they would work if it had no

impact on their incomes (p. 624).


April 11, 200860

Considering everything, what

would be the ideal situation for

you—working full-time, working

part-time, or not working at all

outside the home?


April 11, 200861

The Power of

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies


April 11, 200862

Parent-Child Interactions

1. Giving Directions

2. Talking about evidence without causal

connections

3. Providing explanations about causal

connections.


April 11, 200863Crowley, K., Callanan, M. A., Tenenbaum, H. R., & Allen, E. (2001). Parents explain more often to boys than to girls

during shared scientific thinking. Psychological Science, 12(3).


April 11, 200864Crowley, K., Callanan, M. A., Tenenbaum, H. R., & Allen, E. (2001). Parents explain more often to boys than to girls

during shared scientific thinking. Psychological Science, 12(3).


April 11, 200865

Thus, parents may quite unconsciously, be

creating a gender bias in science learning

years before their kids ever even see the

insides of a science classroom.


April 11, 200866

• Mothers in particular have a strong and long-lasting influence on career choices for their daughters. For example:


April 11, 200867

Bleeker, M. M., & Jacobs, J. E. (2004). Achievement in math and science: Do mothers' beliefs matter 12 years later?

Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(1), 13.


April 11, 200868

Thus, to fully understand

women’s success in math

and science, experiential,

cultural, and organizational

factors need to be taken into

account.


April 11, 200869

The legacy and future of

feminism is the constant

challenging of gender

stereotypes that limit

opportunities for women and

men.


April 11, 200870

Same

Difference

Rosalind Barnett

and

Caryl Rivers

www.same-diff.com

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