For a long time now, I have known that it would be twice as hard to make my way in the field I chose because I am a woman. Society seems to be biased against women in science and other high-tech jobs. I won’t say it is just men, it’s not. Women perpetuate the stereotype as well.

We science oriented women have been given a number of excuses of the discrepancy in pay, position and even numbers in the field. Some of the excuses I have personally heard:

• Well, women are just going to leave to have children.
• Women aren’t as good at math as men.
• Women’s hormones make them bad at science during certain times of the month.
• Women are too emotional to be good at science and math.
• God doesn’t want women to be scientists.
• A woman’s brain works differently from a man’s in a way that makes them unable to grasp the basic elements of science and math.

The list goes on, but I’m sure you get the point now.

It is true that many women are not encouraged in math. Many teachers have, in the past, been guilty of overlooking women in math and sciences. They don’t encourage women to take the classes and instead point them in the direction of Home Economics or art and literature courses. But, one should hope that this trend died out with the need for us to burn our bras. I am sure there are places where this still takes place, but, for the most part, it has changed in the US. Girl and boys now have equal grades and math scores in High School math. Women seem to be excelling past men in the field of biology. More women than ever have math degrees … and an equal number of men and women pursue higher level science, engineering and mathematics degrees.

So, why is there still the imbalance in the real working world?

Why do women still get paid 2/3 of what a man gets paid for the same job? Why are women overlooked for the science jobs in favor of men? Why aren’t as many women in the positions of leadership as men?

According to this article (Study finds U.S. bias against women in science), there is no good reason for it. None at all. If you are a female minority, be prepared for worse.

We live in a country where women are not given maternity leave and more and more women come back to work less than a month after giving birth. They take no more time off than they have earned. This leaves the companies at no disadvantage, so they cannot blame children. Women work just as hard as men while performing their duties at work. (Often times even harder as more is expected of us.)

While I hate the misogynistic view some men hold toward this subject, I hate even more the educated male view of it; the men who try to justify the difference with science. There is no good scientific reason for it.

I have often wondered how much more advanced we, as a human society, would be if the minds of women had been educated rather than shoved in front of a cooking pot. What would the world be like today if women had been given a chance just as men had? Most of the world didn’t even accept women as full citizens until the early 1900’s. For centuries the only way a woman could become educated was to become a nun. This in itself limits the ability for scientific advancement.

What has the world lost because women were thought incapable of mathematical or scientific genius?

Posted by Utopia at September 19, 2006 08:18 AM

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