psychology and gender :: essays research papers

In a meeting of the sexes on Friday, Johnstone Professor of Psychology Steven Pinker and Professor of Psychology Elizabeth Spelke gived whether innate differences jumper cable to the underrepresentation of tenured wo hands in math and the sciences. In front of a jam-packed Science Center B crowd, they analyzed the data behind University electric chair Lawrence H. Summers controversial January comments on women in science.Pinker, whom Summers recruited to Harvard last year, cited present arguing that mannish superiority in skills like mental object rotation and puzzle solving provides a biological basis for the argument that men be more(prenominal) talented at math and science.Spelke countered, acknowledging the existence of differences between men and women, but arguing that the reason women ar as scarce as hens teeth in academia is due to discrimination. The debate is non, argon there sex differences, its, do they add up to an payoff for one sexual activity over the ot her, Spelke reminded the audience.Prefacing his comments by saying that he was a feminist, Pinker stressed the importance of distinguishing between the moral and empirical claims about gender differences.The truth cannot be sexist, he said.Though Spelke attacked his yardstick indicatorthe sit mathematics examinationsPinker maintained that the tests are very good. They dedicate an enormous add up of predictive power.Pinker also noted that men and women tend to have contrasting priorities in life men seek status and money, while women numerate more for interpersonal relationships.What this means is that there are slightly more men than women who dont care whether or not they have a life, Pinker said.Spelke did not address the argument about motives directly, saying that she did not think there was evidence available to evaluate the claim that motives are biologically determined.She focused on proving the existence of covert discrimination by looking at how gender stereotypes infl uence the way men and women are perceived.She presented studies in which employers were given identical resumeswith still the candidates gender switchedthat found that men were perceived as being more cultivatable than women.She admitted, however, that were not dealing with overt discrimination, saying that in plain situations, where one candidate is clearly superior to the other, there is no evidence of sex discrimination.Pinker later noted that women are not underrepresented everywhere, but only in the hard sciences. Several audience members said they thought the eve concluded in Spelkes favor.