January 2005:  Responding to a Teachable Moment

On Friday, January 14, 2005, Lawrence Summers, President of Harvard University and an economist, spoke before a meeting of the National Bureau of Economic Research, about the causes for women's under-representation in science. He suggested that since fewer girls than boys have top scores on science and math tests in late high school, perhaps innate, rather than social, differences explain why so few women are successful in these fields. His comments, which provoked considerable ensuing critique and discussion, have served as a catalyst to increase general public awareness that women are not fully represented in engineering and related sciences, and an opportunity to provide better information to counter some of the unexamined assumptions and myths about why women are not better represented in these fields.

Many people are asking "What can we do?" Here are 5 suggestions for concrete action individuals can take.

If you are a scientist, engineer, mathematician, or a professor or student in these fields, you may also want to add your name to a letter now being circulated to be sent to Senators Ron Wyden and George Allen, requesting greater Congressional (national policy) attention to the current under-representation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.

In immediate response after hearing about Summers' comments, we at MentorNet authored a "Letter to the Editor," assisted and co-signed by more than 100 other scientists, engineers, and educators, including leaders of universities, schools of engineering, professional societies, and other nonprofit organizations, and distributed to a number of major publications in the U.S. See the text of the letter.

Download the most recent copy of this letter and its signators.

If you would like to add your name to the list of signers, please email lhs_response@mentornet.net to make the request, including your name, title, and organizational affiliation as you would like them to appear on the letter.

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Thank you for all you do to advance women in engineering and science through MentorNet!

Carol Muller
Founder and CEO, MentorNet