The Lab Book 2015-08-28 15:52:45

Women & Science: the Perspective of an Evolutionist 

 There’s this topic. A topic that is talked about the least but tremendously important in the progression of society and today’s economics. This is the topic of under-representation of women not only in science but also in many other professions.

In the first chapter of the book, Why Aren’t More Women in Science?, Virginia Valian discusses many factors as to why there are so few women in science. One of the main ideas that most stood out to me was the form of gender “schemas.” It seems completely unethical to “assign different psychological traits to males and females”(32) because it implies that we are who we are because of our gender. In fact, we are all different no matter our genders. There are more factors that contribute to our personality, such as geographical location and our social environments. Also, genders schemas within the media encourage people to develop and maintain a fixed mentality that women are less adequate than males and that women should not have certain jobs because they are not “built” for them. This misogynistic attitude that says that women should be quiet, emotional nurturers while men work and bring food to the table dates back hundreds of years. And though most women today go against this believe, some women still subconsciously place men on a pedestal when it comes to who will or who should receive a higher position in the workforce, even when both genders are completely able. In a nutshell, “gender schemas affect judgments of people’s competence, ability, and worth” (32).

Another theory for why women are marginalized in the sciences and other areas is that women are sometimes portrayed as less talented than men. Though some people believe that “there is a single talent that determines success in the natural sciences and math…that talents and ability are fixed rather than malleable” (28), I have the conviction that “talent is not a unitary thing” (28). It cannot be measured because people are different. I prefer to think of talent as one would think of talent within players of different sports teams. Each player is talented in specific areas. You cannot measure whether a point guard is more talented than a running back because they both play different positions in different sports. There is no correlation. The same applies to the attempt to measure what is considered talent between people in society. We all play different roles and the person better fit for that niche should be the one in charge of it, whether it be man or woman.

So, there’s this topic. A topic that is talked about the least but detrimental to the progression of society and not only today’s economy but also future economics. This is the topic of women in science. We live in a world where variation is a necessity. I’m almost positive that most scientists can agree that evolution is the process of change and, in order for a system to evolve, variation must occur. In order for growth, there has to be diversity, not only age and race, but also in gender. In a community, there must be a combination of different views and experiences in order for it to keep its integrity and prosper. If we continue to belittle women simply because they were not born male, we must throw away our belief in evolution and accept that change will never occur.

“I hope when I get to Heaven I shall not find the women playing second fiddle.” — Mary Watson Whitney