Chronicle of Higher Education articles on Women & Science: the debate goes on

Parents Forum
1

<p>CHE has a couple of interesting articles available in their free on-line section:</p>

<p>Primed for Numbers
Are boys born better at math? Experts try to divide the influences of nature and nurture
<a href="http://chronicle.com/temp/email.php?id=bvgv2m49heuclsblem13wlpn8cts2ar4%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://chronicle.com/temp/email.php?id=bvgv2m49heuclsblem13wlpn8cts2ar4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Where's Larry?
Supporters of Harvard's embattled president wonder what happened to the bullish leader they know
<a href="http://chronicle.com/free/v51/i26/26a00101.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://chronicle.com/free/v51/i26/26a00101.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>My favorite theory from the first article is that boys are better at math than girls because they misbehave more in school. Girls apparently tend to be too inclined to follow directions rather than coming up with their own more resourceful ways to solve problems in ways other than the way the teacher told them to.</p>

<p>(I find this theory rather appealing. It explains that my own difficulties in math trace to my early years as an all-too-obedient all-too-compliant kid in parochial school! It also explains why my children, fiercely independent "Mother, I'd rather do it my OWN way!" types, are much better at math than I am!)</p>

2

<p>Adddenda to the debate:
W. Michael Cox and Richard Alm, "Scientists are made, not born," NYT, Feb. 28, 2005. Has percentages of women earning BA, MA and Ph.D in engineering, physics, geology, computer science, chemistry, biological sciences and health sciences from 1970 to 2002.<br>
(B.A.s in math: 1971: 37.8% 2002: 46.7%; Ph.Ds in math: 1971: 7.6% 2002: 29%)</p>

<p>Also, Time magazine cover story, March 7, 2005: "The math myth: the real truth about women's brains and the gender gap in science."</p>