Science: It's a girl thing

Posted at 11:31 AM on December 24, 2012 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Science

Students at Dartmouth have answered a poorly done European video that purported to show that science and women are made for each other. The European video was clearly the brainchild of some guys. Not this one.

Men still outnumber men in science faculty at the nation's higher education institutions. And Nature Magazine's list of 10 people in science who mattered this year listed only three women.

But one was Jo Handelsman, a microbiologist whose research this year exposed the unconscious bias against women in science, the magazine reported.

Handelsman, a microbiologist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, asked more than 100 scientists to evaluate applications from undergraduate students seeking a job as a laboratory manager -- often a stepping stone to graduate school. Unbeknown to the researchers, the students were fictitious. But the prejudice that Handelsman uncovered was not. On average, researchers who received 'John's' resume said that they would offer an annual salary of US$30,238; those who read an identical resume from 'Jennifer' offered just $26,508.

Chemists, physicists and biologists -- men and women alike -- also rated Jennifer as less competent than John and expressed less interest in mentoring her. "There was simply one treatment and one variable, and there's no escape from the conclusion," says Handelsman. This type of bias could be one factor holding back female scientists, she says.

(h/t: Boston Globe)

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Comments (3)

Of course there is "escape" from a conclusion as poorly, and unscientifically, drawn as this one.

Perhaps the researchers were willing to invest a little more (12%) in "John", as the probability of "John" getting pregnant is rather remote. "Jennifer", on the other hand, being a female, may start her own biology lab right under her belt at any time, and give it much more attention than the lab where she is being paid to be interested.

Also, like it or not, females still get married......and quit their jobs.

Additionally, females are still females, and therefore not as logical and rational as men. Yes, yes, rant and rave at me as much as you like........what I said will remain the truth.

Men and women are different. Vive la difference......

Ms. Handelsman exposed her own bias, not anyone else's, and proved only that she is not a competent scientist. A competent scientist comes to conclusions based only on fact, where as she came to a conclusion based only on her "feelings". Her study, therefore, is tainted, and must be thrown out.

Posted by inuit | December 24, 2012 3:15 PM

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inuit, perhaps more investigation is merited before making such strong comments. If you review the article Bob cites in Nature, you'll see the link to the researcher's published article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This work is peer reviewed, and the supporting documents for this study include details on the scientific method used to collect data and verify results. I don't feel the need to discuss any of your other claims here, but it is entirely inappropriate to suggest that Dr. Handlesman is not a competent scientist.

Posted by Ariel | December 26, 2012 3:20 PM

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You might like knowing that this Minnesota boy was behind a contest to make an alternative video for this campaign. I got the European Science Foundation and a Nobel Laureate in Physics onboard, and we had wonderful submissions and a great time doing it. See the three (1 mn each) winners and read how we did the contest here:
Science: It’s your thing! 3 steps to a crowdsourcing success http://bit.ly/Us73hB

Posted by curt rice | January 4, 2013 3:43 AM

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