In most traditional societies there are some differentiating parameters whose origins have social and cultural basis. Contemporary societies refute that not because of simply liking the idea of being equal but because it has no scientific merit and empirically and scientifically false. In my classes for instance there are good female students with a higher score than some boy students and also some boy students with higher score than some girl students. That simply proves their performances do not at all depend on their gender.
But this idea still lingers even in some prestigious schools like Harvard University, in which Larry Summers, a onetime president of the university said “women have some natural limitations in learning and doing abstraction, mathematics and in general things that are mathematical”, which I found it shocking but at the same time false. Again, the dean of business school of the same university apologized for treating female business students and faculty members with contempt and substandard membership. That means the university has a systemic problem in its foundations regarding women and what they are capable off naturally as men in all aspects of human endeavors to perform and achieve equally with high standards as men.
For instance here in Research Gate, I have followers and who I follow, that are women and mathematicians, physicists, engineers, chemists, business women, philosophers, economists, artists, etc, practically in all aspects of science and the arts that mathematics is used. There are also women of global stature that perform and achieve well in science and mathematics.
What do you think?
I believe there are no differences. I think there are differences regarding the skills to solve different kinds of problems, but no differences in cognitive ability.
Although Larry Summers' statement should not be interpreted in the common way used by media [Summers spoke of a "denser rate of males" in the highest range of STEM tests, which does not mean at all that he was suggesting anything congenital or innate in male gender per se], I got the idea that the issue is completely dependent from a culture matter.
In particular, I believe that this is a complex matter of "obsessions", overlapping and recursive.
These *obsessions* were / are still related to the social inclination to predominance, and to the need to demonstrate rational capacities in an hierarchical model, more practiced by |males upon males| [the fathers upon the male children, for example], than |females upon females| [daughters from mothers].
A social engagement to determine males strongly rational - therefore, inclined and dedicated to the STEM areas - was greater, regular and repeated over the centuries from the Roman world and before, so that the male "obsessions" addressed in this direction have assumed the character of a praxis, a full acceptance, an meme incorporation into the dominant culture.
This is not valid for females, which - in some sense - have moved more freely from these cultural "obsessions" [though they have always been victims of other kinds of obsessive harassment].
In the article "Womenomics — Behind the enemy lines" [http://myurl.theprimate.it/MTctMjYwLTAtMC0w], my collegue dr. Marika Mazzi Boém explains well this subtle paradox of freedoms vs. obligations, in which women developed a "free area" that is often interpreted as a limit — reason why Summers identified a lack of density of women in the higher range of STEM tests.
—g
@Dejenie, I do not find a gender as a natural inhibitor regarding woman and mathematics! I do know many nice women mathematicians!
But, there are some research who are more competent: "Women's underachievement in maths may not be due to their poor self-image in the subject, a new report suggests..."
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jan/20/women-maths-stereotype-threat
Ljubomir, that is a good link of a report on the issue raised . Some of the points indicated -.. " Earlier research had serious flaws, ... , with improper use of statistical techniques and methodology " ...., " the gender gap may simply be that men and women have different interests from an early age, and says the answer to getting more women into maths and engineering is probably a matter of motivation " ...
Please quit these gender discussions! They are not needed and in some way ridiculous and absurd . Why should a testosteron defined male better add or multiply than a female?
Hanno, well that is what we want to convey, as you have said "the absurdity " of differentiating such abilities solely on testosterone is utterly ridiculous, unscientific and as learnt members of society, we should indeed disseminate and protect truth. In my subsequent statements of the question, I mentioned some prestigious learning places here in America, where such beliefs existed for so long and that means although we said it absurd, but in others it is an illusion truth. That is why I paused the question to bring ideas such as yours so that society have the true knowledge of it. True knowledge provides wisdom to members of society.
Yes, I do agree with Dajenie.
Such condition that the number of females involved in the technique is very low, since the early years of school, must be demonstrated in its absurdity, and correct.
Here it is to identify and fix the **cultural** praxis [pls read: the common sense with its "obsession" in searching for the normal ratio] that mystifies the inclination to some particular fields of knowledge.
It is something profoundly different, to prefer different colors [pink÷blue], or different games [dolls to comb ÷ robots to build].
It is a misconception that equates 2 different anthropological phenomena, which do not have comparable levels.
It is to force the toys industries and commercials, to stop fabricating pink dolls to dress~undress~dress~undress… — if your target audience is made up of girls; and vice versa, armed robots or engineered Lego if your target is identified as "boys".
We must talk of it @Hanno, though our shared sense is not so common.
We need to force the industry to not leave the non-gender-prototypes as useless stocks, or worse, drawings in a drawer.
—g
Thanks Aria for your links of insightful studies - worth reading them!
i certainly refute this statement as we have various genius who are women and contributed towards mathematics. for ex. Shakuntala Devi is still considered a computer wizard who can answer faster than a computer. its our mindset which has made us to label as course or subject women oriented or male dominated.
It is widely accepted that the gender is not an impediment for any type of activity. It is a fact that women have been discriminated during a long historical time to access to many of human activities . How such an historical injustice can be compensated? Revolutionary solution: positive discrimination! What I have observed is that people who are not in their place can do much harm. In a civilized society discrimination has no place, independently of its sign.
Dear Professor Dejenie A. Lakew,
In my opinion gender is nothing doing in learning activities and outcomes. Its the society and culture which forced the gender to a level of deprived society of gender. This discrimination phenomenon has created a craze for success and lead amongst women.
Dear professors Afaq Ahmad and Kazaros S. Kazarians,
Indeed such discriminatory activities are social constructs not natural and a sign of backwardness. Only education and enlightenment take them away and societies with such problems should invest and fight to educate their societies.
This article belongs to this thread :Math + culture = gender gap?
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/07-08/gender-gap.aspx
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/09/math.aspx
Dear Ljubomir,
That is true, culture plays a major role in the equation. Unequal cultural treatments based on genders by society which includes teachers and other decision making persons and a priori gender role declarations.
"Gender-based discrimination in education is both a cause and a consequence of broader forms of gender inequality in society."
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/gender-and-education/
Dear Ljubomir,
Indeed, although society have shown tremendous improvements to avoid all forms of unnatural but man made inequalities, more things are still required to be done for an almost a perfect human society.
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