News and Events => People news => Topic started by: LostInTime on July 12, 2006, 01:49:23 PM Return to Full Version
Title: Transgender Prof Defends Female Scientists
Post by: LostInTime on July 12, 2006, 01:49:23 PM
Post by: LostInTime on July 12, 2006, 01:49:23 PM
Article (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/07/12/national/a100602D92.DTL)
But it wasn't just his medical degree from Dartmouth, his Ph.D from Harvard and his research that inspired him to write an article blaming the persistent gender gap on institutional bias.
Rather, it was that for most of his academic life, the 50-year-old professor who now wears a beard was once known as Dr. Barbara Barres, a woman who excelled in math and science.
"I have this perspective," said Barres, who switched sexes when he started taking hormones in 1997. "I've lived in the shoes of a woman and I've lived in the shoes of a man. It's caused me to reflect on the barriers women face."
But it wasn't just his medical degree from Dartmouth, his Ph.D from Harvard and his research that inspired him to write an article blaming the persistent gender gap on institutional bias.
Rather, it was that for most of his academic life, the 50-year-old professor who now wears a beard was once known as Dr. Barbara Barres, a woman who excelled in math and science.
"I have this perspective," said Barres, who switched sexes when he started taking hormones in 1997. "I've lived in the shoes of a woman and I've lived in the shoes of a man. It's caused me to reflect on the barriers women face."