Why aren't more women in science? : top researchers debate the evidence / edited by Stephen J. Ceci and Wendy M. Williams.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ceci, Stephen J.

Williams, Wendy M. (Wendy Melissa), 1960-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women in science.

Sex discrimination in science.

Science.

Women.

Medical Subjects:

Science.

Women.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

APA PsycBOOKS.

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, [2007]

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

"Why aren't more women pursuing careers in science, engineering, and math? Is the lack of women in these fields a consequence of societal discouragements, innate differences in ability between the sexes, or differences in aspirations? These questions always spark a host of other questions--and a multiplicity of answers--all of which have important implications for gender equality and for retaining the nation's competitiveness in the technological marketplace. The most reliable and current knowledge about women's participation in science is presented in this collection of 15 essays written by top researchers on gender differences in ability. The contributors were chosen to reflect the diversity and complexity of views on the topic, about which knowledge has been accumulating and evolving for decades. The editors provide an introduction that defines the key issues and embeds them in historical context and a conclusion that synthesizes and integrates the disparate views. Taken together, the book makes a convincing case that sex differences are neither as unambiguous as earlier researchers suggested nor as insubstantial as some current critics claim. Sex differences in career choices are definitely not inevitable, as the past 30 years have documented both a sea change in the gender makeup of various fields and fluctuations in ability-score differences between the sexes. However, as the essays make clear, such changes leave open the possibility of cultural and biological bases for today's sex differences in science, engineering, and math participation. Written to appeal to students and nonspecialists as well as psychologists and other social scientists, the contributors reframe this key controversy and challenge readers' emotional and political biases through solid empirical science"--Jacket. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)

Contents:

Setting the stage. Introduction: striving for perspective in the debate on women in science / Wendy M. Williams and Stephen J. Ceci

Essays. Women at the top in science

and elsewhere / Virginia Valian

"Underrepresentation" or misrepresentation? / Doreen Kimura

Is math a gift? : beliefs that put females at risk / Carol S. Dweck

Sex, math, and science / Elizabeth S. Spelke and Ariel D. Grace

Taking science seriously : straight thinking about spatial sex differences / Nora S. Newcombe

Sex differences in personal attributes for the development of scientific expertise / David S. Lubinski and Camilla Persson Benbow

Do sex differences in cognition cause the shortage of women in science? / Melissa Hines

Brains, bias, and biology : follow the data / Richard J. Haier

Science, sex, and good sense : why women are underrepresented in some areas of science and math / Diane F. Halpern

Women in science : gender similarities in abilities and sociocultural forces / Janet Shibley Hyde

The seeds of career choices : prenatal sex hormone effects on psychological sex differences / Sheri A. Berenbaum and Susan Resnick

Sex differences in mind : keeping science distinct from social policy / Simon Baron-Cohen

An evolutionary perspective on sex differences in mathematics and the sciences / David C. Geary

Neural substrates for sex differences in cognition / Ruben C. Gur and Raquel E. Gur

Where are all the women? : gender differences in participation in physical science and engineering / Jacquelynne S. Eccles

Conclusion. Are we moving closer and closer apart? : shared evidence leads to conflicting views / Stephen J. Ceci and Wendy M. Williams.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Electronic reproduction. Washington, D.C. : American Psychological Association, 2005. Available via the World Wide Web. Access limited by licensing agreement. s2005 dcunns.

Other Format:

Original

ISBN:

159147485X

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.