Even Science Professors Think Men Are Smarter Than Women - National - The Atlantic Wire
But especially worrying to the researchers were the competence ratings. The mean rating given to “John” by male professors was 4.01, while the mean rating by female professors was 4.1. For “Jennifer,” the ratings were lower, but nearly identical by male and female faculty respondents: 3.33 and 3.32. Because students rely on positive professor feedback when deciding a career in science, the researchers write, “This finding raises the possibility that women may opt out of academic science careers in part because of diminished competence judgments, rewards, and mentoring received in the early years of the careers.”
Which is all to say, bias really does have an impact on the number of women in science. “Although women have begun to enter some science fields in greater numbers,” the study says, “their mere increased presence is not evidence of the absence of bias.”
