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Response from the AWM Community
Carolyn Gordon, AWM president 2002-2004, letter to the New York Times, Friday, January 28, 2005.
To the Editor:
Regarding Lawrence H. Summers's remarks on the underrepresentation of women in
mathematics and science, the real news is that despite cultural barriers, women
are entering these fields in greater and greater numbers.
About a third of all United States citizens who have received Ph.D.'s in
mathematics recently are women. About half of all undergraduate mathematics
degrees in the United States go to women.
Yes, there is still a shortage of women on the mathematics and sciences
faculties of many American universities, including Harvard. So universities
should hire more of these excellent women and then treat them as if they value
them.
We call on Lawrence Summers, as well as the leaders of all educational
institutions, to take positive action to encourage the influx of women and
minorities into mathematics, science and engineering.
Carolyn Gordon Hanover, N.H., Jan. 22, 2005
The writer, a professor of mathematics at Dartmouth College, is president of
the Association for Women in Mathematics.
Here is a link to the page at the New York Times.
Dr. Gordon's letter is the second on the page.
Please note that you will need to be registered with the Times to login and
access this page.
Responses of other mathematical sciences organizations
- American Mathematical Society
"The speculations made by Lawrence Summers, President of Harvard University.
. . . were inappropriate. . . . We who strive to make our subject areas attractive
and accessible to all express our dismay at such remarks."
http://www.ams.org/
- Fields Institute
"The Fields Institute's experience testifies to the exceptional accomplishments of
women at all levels of mathematical research."
http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/
- International Council of Industrial and Applied Mathematics
"Recent
remarks of the President of Harvard University have led to media
speculation that innate differences in the mathematical abilities of
men and women make it less likely that women will succeed in science
and mathematics. ICIAM does not accept this notion."
http://www.iciam.org
- Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
http://www.msri.org/calendar/announcements.html
- Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences
"An academic authority in the United States has again raised the
possibility that it may be due to 'innate differences,' 'innate
ability,' or 'natural ability.' Such remarks simply serve to
perpetuate and legitimize the exclusion of women from fields where they
are sorely needed, and to deprive society of one-half of its workforce,
not to mention the indignity of branding some of us as unable to
understand science."
http://www.pims.math.ca
Responses from other organizations
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
"... we wish to make clear that while historically, gender
has predicted participation in S&E careers, there is
no evidence — nor has there ever been — that it predicts
aptitude in science."
http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2005/0208boardIntro.shtml
Media coverage
How many women get degrees in mathematics?
How many professors of mathematics are women?
Cultural barriers
From our bibliography:
- Applebome, Peter. (1997 April 2). Insisting It's Nothing, Creator Says
SAT, Not S.A.T. New York Times, A16.
"College Board officials now say that the old name, 'Scholastic Aptitude Test,' is
misleading if it connotes aptitude as something innate or immutable." In 1994, the
College Board said that the two Scholastic Aptitude Tests were hence to be called the
Scholastic Assessment Tests. In 1997, a College Board spokesman said, "The SAT has
become the trademark; it doesn't stand for anything."
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Case, Bettye Anne & Leggett, Anne. (2005). Complexities: Women in Mathematics.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Documents the complex nature of the conditions women around the world have faced — and
continue to face — while pursuing their careers in mathematics.
- Fennema, Elizabeth & Leder, Gilah C. (Eds.). (1990).
Mathematics and gender. New York: Teachers College Press.
Still relevant. The contributors to this volume discuss their research on spatial
skills, gender, and mathematics; classroom studies; students' beliefs and motivation;
and teachers' beliefs about gender and mathematics.
- Jacobs, Janis E. & Eccles, Jacquelynne S. (1985). Gender differences in math ability:
the impact of media reports on parent, Educational Researcher 14(3), 20-25.
Before the 1983 study of Camilla Benbow and Julian Stanley received much publicity,
Jacobs and Eccles were interviewing parents about their daughters' mathematics
coursetaking. They noticed a change in responses after media coverage of Benbow and
Stanley's research on gender differences in "mathematically talented" boys and
girls — girls were less likely to be encouraged in mathematics.
- Linn, Marcia & Kessel, Cathy. (2003). Gender differences in cognitive and educational
performance. In Lynn Nadel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of cognitive science. New York: Macmillian.
Summary and discussion of research from several disciplines on gender. Includes discussion
of spatial abilities and their relationship with curriculum.
- Seymour, Elaine & Hewitt, Nancy M. (1997). Talking about leaving: Why undergraduates
leave the sciences. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Seymour and Hewitt interviewed and conducted focus groups with 335 undergraduates at seven institutions. The
undergraduates had mathematics SAT scores of at least 650. Both students who dropped out of STEM majors
and students who persisted expressed concern about the quality of teaching and other aspects of
undergraduate STEM education.
- Valian, Virginia. (1999).Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women. Cambridge:
MIT Press. [AWM Newsletter Review, May/Jun 1999.]
For more information on gender schemas and other reviews of the book, see the author's Web site:
http://maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu/psych/faculty/valian/valian.htm
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