Hormonal fluctuations are something we often associate with moody pubescent teenagers and maybe even our own awkward teenage years *shudders*, but did you know that they might be affecting YOU right now? In addition to wreaking havoc on teens, hormones also play a (supposedly) important role in determining cognitive abilities in both men and women. At least that’s what essays 1-5 in the book Why Aren’t More Women in Science have led me to believe. Well, that is until I read the 7th essay by Melissa Hines, entitled “Do Sex Differences in Cognition Cause the Shortage of Women in Science?”. After reading Hines’ essay about organizational and activational hormones, and arguing with myself about what she was trying to say, I was left thinking that sex differences are negligible and that we, as a society, should be more focused on improving upon our weaknesses rather than being held back by them.
The main amendment that Hines’s essay made to my recently formed opinion was in relation to the role that hormones play in cognitive differences. Essays 1-5 had convinced me that cognitive sex differences existed and that they occurred because of the hormone differences between men and women. Hines presented her information on differences in cognitive abilities using a mathematical manner and I appreciated that. In my opinion, Hines’ use of statistics to show the differences between the genders is best way to convey the gap because quantifying the differences shows how large it truly is. Hines introduces congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), which is a genetic disorder causing the adrenal gland to produce extra androgens, starting prenatally. Hines used girls with CAH to display the effect of increased male hormones on females’ cognitive abilities and eventually came to the conclusion that there was no real effect on abilities because the results could not be replicated and because they were too many other factors that could not be discounted. Hines continued on to discuss the organizational and activational influences hormones had on human cognition, concluding that the hormones did not play a role in the differences because the results were not consistent across the board. I looked into this theory and learned that it is becomng more and more commonly accepted (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/girl-brain-boy-brain/). In comparison to some of the other essays, I think that Hines does an exemplary job at analyzing the data collected and then deciding whether or not to use the data to support the claims made. Since Hines was presenting both sides of the argument by analyzing the evidence and then rejecting it when appropriate, I was more convinced of what she was saying because I could follow along her train of thought. After reading the essay, I was left questioning and then changing my opinion that hormones caused the sex differences. In summation, Hines’ method of presenting evidence about hormones and cognitive differences caused me to believe that hormones do not play a role in a person’s cognitive abilities.
Despite the fact that Newcombe addressed and analyzed the data presented, her argument did have some limitations. She argues that the mentality surrounding sex differences is having a larger effect on cognitive differences in comparison to hormones. When Hines asserts this, she is assuming that the mentality is very impactful, although many people have begun to disregard the belief that males are better than females at some things. In addition to this limitation, Hines ends her essay in a similar manner to how Nora Newcombe ended her essay earlier in the book by saying that society should be more focused on improving upon weaknesses instead of focusing on what causes the differences in the first place. Hines is assuming that people will be willing to put in more effort to improve themselves rather than participating in activities that they are already inherently good at.
In conclusion, when I first began reading the essay, I started relating what Hines was saying to other essays in the book. The relation between the essays in the book is starting to make me think that there may actually be an answer to question “Why Aren’t More Women in Science?”. I think that answer may be that although sex differences exist, it is more important to focus on getting rid of them rather that focusing on why they exist. And that is an answer I can accept.
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