Ex hypothesis
“How do biological differences in the sexes affect abilities, behavior and social position?” is a totally legitimate research question. Let the evidence fall where it may. And if the president of Harvard wants to be “provocative,” heck, that’s a lot better than the fund-raising drone emitted from most college presidents’ orifices. But (according to The Globe):
”Here was this economist lecturing pompously [to] this room full of the country’s most accomplished scholars on women’s issues in science and engineering, and he kept saying things we had refuted in the first half of the day,” said [Denice D. ] Denton, the outgoing dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Washington.
It’s true that “innate differences” were only one of three possibile explanations Summers gave for why there are fewer women than men in science and math. But from the reports it doesn’t sound like he was simply laying out three logically-possible hypotheses. For one thing, he cited his daughter’s playing with trucks as if they were dolls despite raising her in a gender-neutral environment. Of course, no environment that has people, windows or a TV in it is truly gender-neutral, so the anecdote seems to expose where Summers’ heart lies; he could equally well have used the story to show the pervasive influence of gender socialization. But we can’t tell because Pres. Summers is refusing to release a tape or transcript of his comments.
What could it hurt?
Here’s the Harvard Crimson report on the presentation.
Here’s Summer’s official statement about the incident.
Categories: Uncategorized dw
I think the rule on this sort of thing is that it’s OK to joke about women in general with respect to technology — you know, stuff like if a woman designed a computer, the CD tray would need lipstick — but it’s not OK to wonder why there is 1 cute blonde in your whole undergrad computer science class.
Dave, I don’t think it’s particularly nice or useful to go all Bell Curve in trying to explain why the hotties were few and far between on the science side of the campus but a dime a dozen on the poet side. But it is kind of a strange phenomenon. Maybe the jokes are the safest explanation.
Would Summers have said the
same thing about Blacks had he
been at a conference that discussed
minority issues? I think not…
he’d lose his job and have
protesters in his office.
Indeed, would David have said the same
thing about Blacks? Should we
do research on whether there are
Black “genes” that make Blacks supposedly
less competent at math? David?
Heh. I see that a measured, intelligent consideration of the issues involved has already begun.
Academia in general–and off-the-record discussion groups in particular–should be a place where people can talk about provocative ideas.
David, you ask “what could it hurt” for Summers to provide a tape or transcript. His talk was supposed to be delivered to a small group and off the record. The fact that many participants have already violated the confidentiality he expected doesn’t put him under any special obligation to release material that will surely be used to make further attacks.
Did participants sign
a secrecy oath? In a
government-sponsored research conference?
Is this matter related to Homeland Security?
Give me a break, Betsy. If Summers
wanted to start discussion on his
“hypothesis” he should know that
the national outcry is what open discussion looks
like. He is getting the expressions
of open disgust he deserves.
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Quoting from Summers’s statement, linked to by David: “My remarks have been misconstrued as suggesting that women lack the ability to succeed at the highest levels of math and science. I did not say that, nor do I believe it.”
The “hypothesis” that women can’t do science is clearly not “his” hypothesis. I too would be upset if Summers had announced that idea as something he believed in. His detractors seem eager to create that impression. Many other people who heard him speak say it just ain’t so.
Betsy, I don’t think we can conclude that. Of course he knows some women can do science. But we don’t know if he thinks that they’re the exceptions since he leaves his middle hypothesis open. He may indeed have no opinion about what combination of the 3 explains the imbalance in the sciences, or he may have a tentative opinion. But, I think his anecdote about his daughter is – admittedly weak – evidence of what he actually thinks; the anecdote could be used to support hypothesis 3, but he seems to think it obviously supports 2. It sounds like a “I’ve seen it with my own eyes” sort of comment.
But the real point is that neither of us can tell what he thinks because he’s not allowing the tape to be published.
(Of course there are other issues here, too, particularly around the effect his comments will have on addressing Harvard’s gender imbalances.)
David, how does the story about his daughter playing with trucks show he was thinking about innate differences in _ability_? Are boys who smash trucks together or bury them in the sandbox somehow proving themselves smarter or more capable in science?
Women are under-represented in math and science. Some of the problem is discrimination. Some of the problem is socialization. Larry Summers wants people to consider some other factors. But if it’s forbidden to examine or even mention those other factors, how can we take steps to overcome them?
Crimson-Faced
I’m operating under the assumption that one still needs to be smart to be the president of Harvard University. That’s why I was really surprised to see the dust-up over President Summers’ recent remarks concerning gender differences representation in
Betsy, the truck story itself could support hypothesis 2 or 3, so the fact that he assumes (apparently) that it supports 2 may show that he gives 2 some I-ve-seen-it-with-my-own-eyes credence. But maybe not. That’s why we need to hear the tape.
And, as I tried to say in the first paragraph of my original post, I agree that we shouldn’t run research out of town on a rail because we’re afraid we won’t like the result. Maybe Summers was simply listing three possible hypotheses for further investigation. At the other end of the value scale, maybe he was doing the equivalent of telling the African American Studies Dept., “Hey, you ever think that maybe you’re under-represented in academics because you just don’t have enough of that smart DNA?” Now, I’m sure it wasn’t as awful as that last characterization. But without hearing the tape, we can’t tell how awful, innocuous or admirable it was.
Summers should release the tape.
Was Summers speech in any way, shape or form subsidized or underwritten by federal tax dollars? if so, I’d like a damned copy of the tape as a taxpaying citizen.
The truck anecdote is incredibly lame, if I understand Summer’s inference. What does a female’s innate programming towards nurturing progeny, required for the continuation of the species, have to do with ability in the sciences? Explain that to Sally Ride who is doing trememdous things to try and encourage girls to enter the sciences. (http://www.sallyrideclub.com/member_home.do)
We lose women to the sciences when they are in late grade school, primarily because of reinforcement of negative social messages (it’t not acceptable to be a geek if you’re an 11-year-old girl, but Britney Spears-lookalike is fine), or excess reinforcement of other messages (be the next Mia Hamm, spend all your extra time on sports). I see this at close-range, with my own 11-year-old daughter (who is gifted in math and science, I might add). There is constant social pressure to be beautiful, be a jock, be popular at that age, all to the detriment of being successful in the sciences. By the time puberty and hormones hit, it’s too late.
Men like Summers ought to do a little role-playing. Try dealing with all that social pressure while the education system around fails to see that you’re equally capable *but different*, no matter that you and your kind represent 50% of students. Note Nancy Stueber’s testimony before a Senate Subcommittee on this very issue: http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/072402steuber.pdf — it’s a cultural issue, not necessarily a hardcoded gender issue. I hope like hell that Summers hasn’t failed his daughter as her culture-leader.
I’d be interested if Betsy
would want to fund research
(an “interesting hypothesis”)
on whether Blacks have a
gene that keeps them from learning
math. Or– maybe whether Jews
have genes that make them
economists. Same pretzel logic.
Betsy?
There is a couple of interesting books on the subject, written by Allan and Barbara Pease:
http://www.peaseinternational.com/
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