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John Tierney ... Good Luck with This Argument

By Richard Whitmire — June 07, 2010 1 min read
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The New York Times columnist is right about what Larry Summers actually said, and he’s right to be skeptical about assuming feminists are right when they suggest a conspiracy theory explains why so few women pursue STEM majors and (persist with) STEM careers.

It would be nice if a simple villain were behind the fact that only about 20 percent of the STEM majors are women. Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated.

This is a fight I prefer to duck. It’s relevant to the boys issue only because if women are to dominate universities we have a national economic interest in luring more women into STEM majors.

As for who’s right in this debate, I have the same answer every time: read The Sexual Paradox by Susan Pinker. If you read her book, I can guarantee that never again will you be accused of having a knee jerk response about this issue. And you’ll have an entirely new outlook about the autism spectrum.

As for John Tierney...good luck fending off the attacks on this issue...Next time, stick with something safe, such as defending BP.

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