Does Gender Outweigh Quality?

In chapter 2 of Why Aren’t More Women in Math and Science?, Doreen Kimura attempts to answer the question, or more so, address what she feels is a confusion between underrepresentation and misrepresentation. She identifies underrepresentation as “the bias we contend with in attempting a rational discussion of sex differences” (39). She goes on to say that discussing underrepresentation of males in fields such as nursing or education is equally an invalid argument as is discussing the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields. I believe the two topics cannot be equal because men are not underrepresented in those fields. We don’t hear discussions of this topic because there is no problem in that area. I think it is not a discussion of misrepresentation but of underrepresentation because even when a man and women are both equal in ability, education, and experience, the man is more likely to be chosen for a position in the STEM fields.

The statement, “targeting advantages like special scholarships or grants exclusively to women in disciplines that women are not drawn to in essence bribe them to enter fields they may neither excel in nor enjoy” (44) stood out to me. In high school, my counselor would bring in speakers from different fields to talk to us about college and how to choose a major. Most of the speakers essentially told the students what jobs paid the most, the average student debt around the world, scholarships that was available for certain fields of study—particularly STEM fields—and which jobs were in higher demand. The data implied that in order to receive an education and graduate with little to no student loans, a student should apply for these scholarships and study a STEM subject so that they could get a high paying job and not have to worry about debt. Depending on the mindset, each student took the information differently. To me, the data only inspired me to follow my already fixed interest in STEM and go the more challenging route instead of looking for easy money and an easy education. Some people though, took the information as a way to roadmap their way through college and study a field that they were not really interested in but wanted the scholarships and a high paying job. Others decided that college is too hard and they’ll just become a STNA or go to a community college for two years to earn an Associate’s degree. In each case, the information given to students by teachers or counselors had an impact on the way the students planned their future. The decisions of the students also foreshadowed how successful each would be in their chosen field of study. I do accept that it becomes a problem when people in general choose to study something that does not identify with their interests.

I agree with Kimura in that there are “sex differences in specific cognitive abilities rather than general intelligence” (39) but I don’t agree that “superior abilities influence the activities rather than the other way around.” I believe that environment influences choices. When I was younger, I had no form of rhythm. I could not dance to a beat or multitask but I still danced like no one was watching. Once I began to take dance classes, I developed an understanding of rhythm and the skill became stronger with practice. In acknowledgement of the discussion of differences in sexual abilities, I believe that interest cannot be determined by ability and ability cannot be determined by sex because “using sex to determine quotas of admission to any program would be a mistake” (44).