Out with pink and blue: Don't foster the gender divide

    * 19 July 2010 by Lise Eliot

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727691.100-out-with-pink-and-blue-dont-foster-the-gender-divide.html?full=true

IN 2010 we need to ask afresh just how deep the rabbit hole goes when it comes to gender politics - and how far we are from digging ourselves out. Our beliefs about differences between the sexes have an impact on society vastly out of proportion to the magnitude of those differences, from female scientists defending their mathematical and technical expertise to boys accused of lacking the communication and emotional skills to succeed at school.

In truth, women are doing well in science: since 1970, the number of doctorates awarded to women in the US has increased five-fold in physics, nine-fold in computer science and 24-fold in engineering, according to the US Department of Education. And yet just last month we heard John Tierney of The New York Times appearing to echo former Harvard University president Larry Summers's claim that women may be intrinsically incapable of performing at the highest level in such fields.