posted by jenschelly
on Sat, 2010-05-29 14:22
The new report from AAUW on why are there so few women scientists and engineers is terrific. I highly suggest it for anyone in engineering. I had the chance to see one of the authors speak at a conference, and I was struck by some of their findings. You can download a full copy of the book on their website or request a paper copy while they last.
Some of the key points I found interesting:
- Even people who consciously reject negative stereotypes about women in science can still hold those beliefs at an unconscious level. Most people associate science and math fields with “male” and humanities and arts fields with “female.” Take a test to learn about your unconscious bias at https://implicit.harvard.edu.
- Female high school graduates have a higher GPA, on average, in math and science than their male peers
- Male students perform better than females on AP tests in math and science
- Employed professionals who are female engineers = 10.6% (2000)
- “Boys do not pursue mathematical activities
at a higher rate than girls do because they
are better at math. They do so, at least
partially, because they think they are better.” — Shelley Correll, professor - Women hold themselves to a higher standard compared with men in “masculine” fields.