Sex, Math and Scientific Achievement

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=sex-math-and-scientific-achievement

Summery:

Do you ever wonder why men seem to dominate the fields of science, engineering, and mathematics? Harvard University president Lawrence Summers suggests that maybe fewer women have the "innate ability" to work in these fields. With that statement Summers caused a national debate because tests have shown that women receive higher grade averages than men in school in every subject, including math and science. But tests also have shown that women score lower on many standardized tests used to gain admittance into college and graduate school. So why do men dominate the fields? Some say that the reason is "sex differences." Unfortunately there is not necessarily just one answer to why less women work in the areas of science and math.

These so called "sex differences" most clearly define the difference between men and women in their "scientific ability." The tools needed to carry out that "ability" are: verbal skills to write complex journal entries and to communicate well with co-workers; memory skills to understand and recall complex information and events; and quantitative abilities in mathematical modeling, statistics, and visualization of data and concepts. As boys and girls go through the many stages of schools, girls grow to become better with the verbal and writing skills. A experiment was run to prove this and the results showed that men were at a large disadvantage at the skills of writing. But the experiment also showed that men grow to have much better visuospatial skills, the skill of mental rotation, and that skill allows men to have an advantage in problems dealing with creating mental images. But what sets men apart most is that men are much more mathematically gifted even though women get higher grades on average, and those that are more gifted in math and science generally look to pursue it as an occupation.

Most recent studies have shown that hormones, as well as genetics and life experiences, affect brain growth. Female brains have a higher percentage of gray matter brain tissue and males have a higher percentage of white matter brain tissue. But men generally have a higher percentage of gray matter in the left hemisphere of the brain and women don't. Imaging studies on brain function show that women perform better on language processing tasks because those tasks involve more symmetrical use of the brain, and men perform better on tasks that involve the visual cortex of the brain.

Research unfortunately also shows that sexism, whether conscientiously or unconscientiously, is used in determining what type of people are hired. And because of the perception of females not having the "innate ability," females are often looked at as being less qualified and therefore not being hired. One final reason for there being less women in the fields of math and science is that women generally stay home when they have families, while the men work. Therefore, women sometimes have less of a chance to pursue an occupation in math, leading to the lower number of women in those fields which allow men to take more of those jobs.

Response:

I found this article interesting because it showed that even though men and women have many differences in the way their brains work, everyone can overcome their weaknesses with hard work and persistence, can pursue something they really want to do. It showed me that God created everyone differently and for a different reason, whether for engineering or parenting, everyone has their own specific job. I also thought it was cool how God created the brains of both men and women differently, and that the brains developed in completely different ways. That just shows that God is truly amazing.