Women in Sciences
We are currently watching Dr. Nancy Hopkins talk about the problems of gender discrimination in the sciences. She’s relating her experiences with the groundbreaking M.I.T. report on Women in Sciences. It’s really interesting to see how the women scientists at M.I.T. attacked the issue — with research, and 150pp of objectively measured facts. This approach ended up being very effective in getting the leadership of the University to buy in, and it’s kind of humerous to hear her anecdotes about a bunch of male engineers who, once they realized that there was an objectively measurable problem, safely isolated variables, and so on — immediately began attempting to engineer a solution. Right now she is breaking down each of the identifiable factors and potential mitigations that have been taken. One interesting anecdote — women were not taking family leave, since they felt it would count against them, but men took family leave and used it to start new companies. Anyway, it’s really inspiring to see people working based off of getting the clearest possible data rather than inventing rhetoric to support their preconceived ideas. Good data is the foundation of good decisions, and too often these debates are framed without having clear data.