Addie Davis
October 1, 2009
9:30 am
SOC 202
Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard University, held an invitation-only luncheon where he discussed the subject of women and minorities in the science and engineering workforce. He suggested that women have achieved lesser success than men in science because of babies and that they’re unable to work 80-hour weeks. He also mentioned that girls score worse than boys on math and science tests because of “innate differences” and dismissed the fact that certain social factors may be responsible for their lesser performance. Summers defended his statements saying that he was purposely aiming to be provocative to address a question that reflected an indisputable reality: Women are underrepresented in science and math. However, universities are reporting marked increases in female enrollment in science and the number has increased about 40% from the class of 2010 to class of 2013.
Because engineering is viewed as work that is observed and evidence-based, females are often shunned from this career because of the common stereotype that women are driven by emotion and personal relationships. This is very much an opinion and not a fact. I think it is unethical for a college president like Summers to suggest that women need to step up in the science and engineering fields and that “because they have babies they may not be able to work 80-hour weeks.” No one wants to work 80-hour weeks anyway and society needs to coincide to accommodate women in any and every job field.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/09/22/f-forbes-women-in-science.html
5 comments:
I think that unfortunately, women are forced to choose between family and career. If she chooses both, one of the two will be neglected. Women are put in this position by default: we are the baby carriers! Men, unless they are put in a single dad situation, rarely has to choose between family and work. In fact, it's almost expected that dad will neglect family to succeed at work and provide more for his family. I don't think society will ever change to accommodate women. Women will continue to have to wear different hats, and juggle them all like a pro.
I agree that women will never be fully accomodated by society to work and job they would like while raising a family. This is the proce that women have to pay due to biology. If Men could carry the babies instead, I believe that this situation could possibly change, however, I do not believe that will happen, therefore, women are stuck being the ones who have to choose, "Successful job or family?"
This is disturbing to read. However, there are many individuals in our present day society who feel this way. Summers has just been bold enough to verbally express it. Considering I personally just completed a Biology as a single mom and now am back for another degree this is just downright non-sense.
I mean, the man did offer test scores and statistics to back up his point. Really it's all true, males and females do score differently in different subjects and subsequently enter different fields. Now whether or not that is a social construct or actually how our brains are formed along sex lines, I don't know. No one is asking women to procreate and if you don't want to, you don't have to, if you want to be a biologist or chemist or firefighter or astronaut, the beauty of it is you can. I disagree that men don't make sacrifices when it comes to balancing a career and family. Like Elisabeth said, men often neglect their families for their job. Are you, the women who commented on this post not applying a male stereotype to the aforementioned businessmen? The idea that they ware cut-throat and will sacrifice anything (including their family) for their jobs, that they are unemotional and unfeeling therefore it doesn't hurt them just as much to leave their children with their spouse of babysitter? Men are operating in just as much of a social restriction as we are, and I don't think it's fair to neglect that just because men have held power in the past.
Your statements are absolutely correct. It almost outrages me to think that an intelligent man such as the college president mentioned in the reading could bring himself to say such narrow-minded things. Throughout history, women have always seemed to come up short when it comes to major movements and now that things are on the rise for females, something like this is published. Whether you are male or female, working more than about 50 hours per week can not only stress a person but cause other issues for them. The fact that women typically take time off to have children is inevitable; after all, who else is going to have them? The reasoning behind this man's argument is ridiculous and simple in my opinion. Men are not typically thought of as child care providers or elementary school teachers but some of the best in the nation are indeed males.
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