Nobody
will ever say that males and females are exactly alike. At the level of
the genome both males and females have 46 chromosomes in most cases,
but males typically have an XY and females have an XX pair of
chromosomes as part of the basic set. Phenotypically, male and female
bodies have obvious physical differences. Some scientists are arguing
that there are other constitutional differences between males and
females that make females less able to compete and succeed at the
highest levels of scientific endeavor due to a lack of innate ability
and other "female" attributes.
A
thoughtful essay in Nature
(paid subscription required) by Dr. Ben Barres challenges some of these
assertions. Dr. Barres is somewhat uniquely qualified to discuss these
issues because, as a transgendered individual and an accomplished
scientist, he has experienced life and career from both the
perspectives of a woman and a man. Although he supplies his own
experiences as anecdotes in this discussion, he does not consider them
"data". Instead, he uses evidence from the published literature to
support his argument that the differences between the observed levels
of achievement between male and female scientists is due to a pervasive
discrimination within academia that judges women as less competent than
men.
Dr. Barres has also provided an
interview to the New York Times,
which was published on July 18, 2006, where he reviews and expands upon
his comments in Nature. This article is available with free
registration.
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