tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9818962.post2728199575183279678..comments2024-03-20T13:10:11.477+05:30Comments on nanopolitan: Gender differences in science and math achievementAbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06790560045313883673noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9818962.post-34475660853677967652007-12-17T17:03:00.000+05:302007-12-17T17:03:00.000+05:30"In reality, Summers' comments were just the last ..."In reality, Summers' comments were just the last nail on the coffin. There were sentiments building up against him anyway for a variety of reasons - and this was the last thing he needed.<BR/><BR/>Overall, he had the strong support of Harvard students because of all things he has apparently been doing to improve under-graduation curricula and such. Its the faculty that did not like his style."<BR/><BR/>Just to add, these are recollections from assorted readings at the time, not first hand information. I remember taking a particular interest and following the news and reactions as it came, since I was in Boston at the time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9818962.post-54955590164165839562007-12-17T09:22:00.000+05:302007-12-17T09:22:00.000+05:30"If Larry Summers’s comments had one appealing fea..."If Larry Summers’s comments had one appealing feature, it was the benefit of simplicity."<BR/><BR/><BR/>This very sentence has been picked on by the folks at gnxp. <BR/><BR/>http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2007/12/scientific-american-employs-summers.php<BR/><BR/>They don't find the stance of the paper any more nuanced than Summers' own words, which are thus : <BR/><BR/>"There are three broad hypotheses about the sources of the very substantial disparities that this conference's papers document and have been documented before with respect to the presence of women in high-end scientific professions. One is what I would call the-I'll explain each of these in a few moments and comment on how important I think they are-the first is what I call the high-powered job hypothesis. The second is what I would call different availability of aptitude at the high end, and the third is what I would call different socialization and patterns of discrimination in a search. And in my own view, their importance probably ranks in exactly the order that I just described." <BR/><BR/><BR/>In reality, Summers' comments were just the last nail on the coffin. There were sentiments building up against him anyway for a variety of reasons - and this was the last thing he needed. <BR/><BR/>Overall, he had the strong support of Harvard students because of all things he has apparently been doing to improve under-graduation curricula and such. Its the faculty that did not like his style.<BR/><BR/>I hope that people read his actual speech in complete; I have hardly read a more nuanced argument than that. The nuances have almost made the speech incomprehensible in the first reading given how long sentences become with the ifs, buts, of courses and the hyphens. <BR/><BR/>http://www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/2005/nber.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com