Gender quota in science

[BunsenBurner]

"A chicken is not a bird, a woman is not a chemist"
"Solvent fumes will dissolve your makeup, honey"
"Real chemists do not wear skirts"
"Let's hire someone who knows how to hold a screwdriver (during discussion of candidates for a chemistry position)"
^^It is a small sample of what I or my female colleagues have encountered in the beginning of our careers. I can say that things do change, but the progress is very slow. It will take a while for the 50/50 gender ratio among grad. students to translate into 50/50 ratio among professors.

[molliebatmit]

My PhD program (biomedical sciences umbrella program: molecular, cellular, genetics, etc.) is actually more like 60% women to 40% men, and some other top programs in the field are ~2/3 female. Which is super.

But even though my program exceeds gender parity, I've still had professors say things to me that they'd never say to a male student. It's inordinately frustrating.

[faustarp]

well, now I have a little more time...until The Daily Show starts anyway. it's good that I won't be able to go on like this forever.

I'm going to college next fall, for biological sciences. I never considered that I shouldn't do this because I'm a girl. I've always thought science was the best area of study, even though I do fine in the other ones too. I'm no math genius, but I enjoy learning it, and I'm willing to put it the time. I took APs in calc, chem, physics, and bio, and they were, overall, a very good experience.

I have not encountered an discrimination problems, even though most of my high school science teachers have been men. I think they are very good teachers. I am not discounting other people's stories, but maybe things are improving, at least in some places! currently, it is my attitude that my gender should have nothing to do with my abilities, and I am quite ambitious.

I don't think it would make any sense to artificially create a gender balance. do it through changing attitudes instead. I would be SO unhappy if I was a well-qualified male who was passed over for admission for the sake of a manufactured equality. on the other hand, the persistence of a subconscious assumption that women are incompetent (thinking of Gladwell's Blink, as someone else was here) is not acceptable either.

PS. I think it's interesting to bring up girls and boys in sports. this inequality in time devoted to practice is, it's sad to say, really convenient for girls like me who do put a lot of effort into getting good sports.

[collegealum314]

"In fact, the only instance I am aware of is MITs admission that strive to achieve an undergraduate population balanced for gender"

Well, first of all, MIT is certainly not the only school that does this. I would say that Caltech is the only school that does not favor females in the admissions process if they are going into technical careers. I didn't say there are quotas, though. It is my assumption is that Title IX will effectively produce quotas.

I won't comment on faculty hiring because I am not a faculty member.

BTW, the sexist quotes in post #46 don't surprise me, but I'm guessing some of the guys who made these remarks were old enough to have fought in the Korean War. For those of us that grew up in a time super-sensitive to political correctness, it's rare to encounter something like this. I remember in 3rd grade when the teacher read a sentence about a doctor and then asked a question. A boy raised his hand and started, "He...", referring to the doctor with the male pronoun. She immediately corrected him, "He or she..." Sexist attitudes are flushed out as the older generations retire.

[AdvicePlease]

faustarp --My older daughter also had very encouraging teachers in high school and she has had wonderful professors in college. This is what made her interview with the professor I described in my earlier post so frustrating. Hopefully he was the exception and not the norm.

I don't know what other high school students think but my daughters had excellent experiences with their teachers. Good teachers make all the difference!!