Today We Ask: Can Legislation Help Improve the Ratio of Women In Science and Math?
We’ve already told you how much we love Mae Jemison (and more on her to come soon), but this week we looked at her story, and asked what she would do to improve the lot of women in science, tech, engineering and math. Her answer was interesting:
During a conference Jemison organized to address the issue, a few of the (white, male) professors suggested something more radical: making funding for tenured professors contingent upon them making sure there are more women and minorities in their classes. “You want it done? Give it to them,” Jemison says. “Make them responsible for it … Right now they don’t have any skin in the game.” Putting the onus of turning things around on men rather than women is gathering strength among advocates for gender equality. A recent New York Times op-ed called “Feminism of the Future Relies on Men,” argued that it’s men who can and should implement gender-neutral policies and other measures that enable female success and ensure that labs, corporations, and classrooms cultivate and promote the best talent.
Honestly? This approach makes a huge amount of sense. And we really think it’ll be good for everyone, and men will see that and get on board quickly.
Another interesting bit? The impicit bias test on Harvard’s website:
Project Implicit, an online lab that examines implicit social cognition—subconscious feelings, preferences, and assumptions—has been measuring and documenting bias as it relates to gender and academic aptitude on its Web site. They found that some 70 percent of their 4.5 million respondents subconsciously associate science and math with men more than women. “This has been an old saying for so long that women have started to believe it,” says Congresswoman Johnson. “And frankly in the past I think women did believe it.” Since people tend to choose careers and fields of study they think they will excel in, these biases, even if subconscious, could be a significant contributing factor. They also might fuel what researchers call the “stereotype threat,” the disruptive impact that negative stereotypes can have on test taking and academic performance.
Full disclosure: I took the test, and totally failed (even though I routinely pat myself on the back for being so awesomely gender-neutral).
Take it (Note: demo version is quicker). Tell us your results.
-jesse
