All women and men are not created equal, and that’s OK
The president of Harvard was speaking at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and in his off-the-cuff remarks, he managed to spark a firestorm. By stating that possibly one of the reasons why there are so few women in the top tiers of science and engineering is there might be differences in the abilities of the genders.
This was all in the context of a much greater discussion about the effects of discrimination on the one hand, and the mad dash for success in America that requires people to work 80 hours a week to be successful.
He repeatedly mentioned the need by employers for hard driving, dedicated people who are willing to sacrifice their personal lives to get ahead. He pointed out that there are fewer American-born cardiac surgeons these days as a consequence of the hours it takes to become a successful one. The fact that he singled out the immigrant population as a rising tide in this field was not deemed as insulting to Americans, or as pandering to the immigrants.
In his talk, Mr. Summers made mention of the fact that there is a definite lack of white men in the NBA. As a short, fat, white guy, I don’t find that offensive. I find it to be a statement of fact. Based on the population of all NBA players, there is a vast majority who are black. There also is a dearth of players who are under six feet tall. As a person who falls into that category, I am not offended by the recognition of the fact that taller people have a much greater aptitude for basketball than I do.
Summers repeatedly emphasized that he was “guessing,” attempting to provoke discussion and hoping to proven wrong. Here’s what he really said, according to the transcripts that were released: “So my best guess, to provoke you, of what’s behind all this is that the largest phenomenon, by far, is the general clash between people’s legitimate family desires and employers’ current desire for high power and high intensity,” Summers said at a National Bureau of Economic Research conference in Cambridge.
“In the special case of science and engineering, there are issues of intrinsic aptitude, and particularly of the variability of aptitude, and that those considerations are reinforced by what are in fact lesser factors involving socialization and continuing discrimination,” he said.
I know that it’s politically incorrect to state that someone, or a group of people, have “less ability” to do anything these days. In this age when everyone is trying to make everyone else feel good about themselves, it’s simply not done to point out that someone has a deficiency, or is less capable.
Frankly, it’s a crock. There are differences and we need those differences to make life interesting. Rather than run from them, or try to avoid acknowledging them, we should embrace them, and recognize how important they really are.
Men and women are profoundly different, and to make believe that all women are just as good as all men is to ignore reality and attempt to create a society of such boring equality and blandness that is best equated to Miracle Whip on Miracle Bread, which is not a miracle meal by anyone’s measure.
There are women who are good at math and women who are horrible at it. There are men who are geniuses at math, and men who can’t figure out that they are spending more than they are making, and that is a bad thing.
Genius women are all around us. Just open up the Sunday LA Times and read the Parade insert, look for Marilyn vos Sant. She’s a freak of nature in how smart she is.
Stupid men are all around us. We could look to our elected officials for some fine examples there, but why beat a brain dead elephant?
The list of accomplished women in science is small relative to men, but it is highly celebrated. For example, Marie Curie was a double Nobel Laureate, known for her work with radium. Dorothy Hodgkin was a Nobel Laureate for her work on molecular identification. Barbara McClintock also was a Nobel Laureate in Medicine for her work on genetics.
Clearly women are not intellectually incapable of success in science and mathematics, however, in general they use their intelligence in other areas. It’s much the same way as there are men who excel in traditionally female endeavors of homemaking, fashion design and food styling. For example Christopher Lowell, Tommy Hilfiger or Emeril Legasse are all stars in their respective areas of focus.
The point though is that there are differences. Women are much more intuitive and in touch with their emotions. I had a male friend once, he was even gay, who in all honesty said, “I can’t describe my feelings, because half the time I don’t even know I have them.”
It will be a cold day indeed when I go to Mack the contractor for emotional support, or to Meredith the therapist to redo the foundation in my house. Which is not to say that either one couldn’t do the job, just that each is better suited for something else.
When a person of the stature of the president of Harvard says something, people are going to listen. But unfortunately, people have a nasty habit of listening for what they want to hear, not for what is being said.
Economic drives by employers, societal drives by our families, and plain old biology will effect whether particular careers are more densely populated by men or women. Acknowledging that is not wrong. Ignoring it is.
It’s wrong to make sweeping assertions about the limitations of entire races, or genders, but at the same time, it’s just as wrong to live in a false state of “we’re all equally capable, in all endeavors, at all times” when that is clearly not the case. (David Pisarra is a business development lawyer in the Santa Monica firm of Pisarra & Grist. He welcomes your questions and comments. He)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 22, 2005. Read the original PDF.