The Science on Women and Science

Abstract

Are women victims of a widespread bias in science and engineering, as a 2007 report of the National Academy of Sciences concluded? Or are there other, more plausible explanations for the paucity of women in various quantitative fields? What, if anything, should be done to encourage more women to become engineers and scientists? Anyone looking for a balanced and temperate treatment of this sometimes-contentious topic will welcome this collection of essays from leading academics on both sides of the issue. Introduction: the science on women in science / Christina Hoff Sommers -- Why so few women in math and science? / Simon Baron-Cohen -- Gender, math, and science / Elizabeth S. Spelke and Katherine Ellison -- A history of structural barriers to women in science: from stone walls to invisible walls / Rosalind Chait Barnett and Laura Sabattini -- Sex, science, and the economy / Christina Hoff Sommers -- Low numbers: stereotypes and the underrepresentation of women in math and science / Joshua Aronson -- Stereotype threat: a case of overclaim syndrome? / Amy L. Wax -- An evolutionary twist on sex, mathematics, and the sciences / David C. Geary -- Cognition and the brain: sex matters / Richard J. Haier -- Women, men, and the sciences / Jerre Levy and Doreen Kimura -- Conclusion: why it all matters and what is to be done / Charles Murray.