Yesterday, Elusive Wapiti wrote a post about "title nining the sciences". This is an agenda where politicians are pressing the Department of Education and other federal grant funding agencies to apply equity standards to science programs in which women are "under represented" in order to enforce gender parity. As a woman who works as an educator and researcher in the health sciences this absolutely horrifies me.
The problem here is that equity is being defined as an equal outcome, when true equity really starts with equal opportunity to compete under the same standard. When there is an intrinsic difference in ability between two groups of people, in order for both groups to have an equal outcome, the standard must be lowered. The fact of the matter is that at the higher IQ levels (above 130 or 2 standard deviations above the mean) associated with working in the sciences men outnumber women 2:1. So, guess what? That means if we are all being held to the same standards, then men should outnumber women in the sciences. It also means that some women have succeeded and will continue to succeed in the sciences without the unwanted and condescending meddling of Barbara Boxer and her ilk. The idea that women can only succeed in the sciences with special consideration or help is nothing short of insulting to the women who have worked hard and succeeded in the sciences on their own merit.
It is also a matter of protecting the general public. The sciences significantly influence the safety and well-being of the general public from medical research to the structural integrity of buildings. When the already limited research dollars go to less qualified researchers in order to meet some sort of gender affirmative action plan people will suffer.
I recently met with a member of my dissertation committee. I greatly appreciate his feedback to me because where some members of my committee would let me get away with "very good" he demands that I meet a higher standard of excellence. That is definitely to my benefit. He doesn't hold me to high standards to oppress me, he does it because he believes I am capable of meeting them. That is far more "empowering" to me than some politician deciding I need their help to succeed. No thanks.
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4 comments:
Hi Learner,
"That means if we are all being held to the same standards, then men should outnumber women in the sciences"
What I think many folks, particularly the equal-outcome types mentioned here, conveniently forget is the left-hand half of the IQ distribution.
I guess it's fine to vie for positions with the guys when its to a woman's benefit, but I doubt there are many women willing to jockey for membership in the 1 - 2 sigmas left of the mean club, which are also populated heavily with men.
Hi EW,
Well, I guess "equality" is only desirable when it is to your benefit. I suppose that is also why you don't hear too many women fighting for the right to register with selective service when they turn 18 either (which was a topic of discussion at work today).
I have seen those studies that say that the bell curve for IQ in men is flatter resulting in more men than women at both the higher and lower levels of IQ. I've also seen studies (including those referenced in the link in my post) that say that the curve for men is actually skewed to the right such that men don't outnumber women in the left side of the bell curve of IQ as much as they do on the higher right end of the scale.
The HYPOCRISY of the equal outcome types absolutely FROSTS me! We don't need to have math, science, and engineering "Title Nined"...
If a female can just make it through such a program, she'll have a much better shot than any guy making it through. She doesn't have to do well; in fact, her marks and accomplishments can be inferior to those of many of her male classmates'. That said, she'll STILL have an easier time finding work, because the companies (thanks to gov't intervention) try to have 50% women in these fields. As it is, the jobs have effectively been 'title nined', and that's bad enough! To do it to math, science, and engineering programs would be an even worse disaster...
MarkyMark,
I have worked with men who assumed that any success I had was because I was given special consideration because I was a woman. That reflects poorly on me because it's not like it is appropriate for me to go around announcing "I scored a 1380 on the GRE, I don't need or want special consideration". People believe what they want to believe. I have learned to keep my head down and do my job and let my performance speak for itself.
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