Peter Lawrence of the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, in Cambridge, UK argues in a paper published in Plos Biology, that men and women really are different and that current political correctness simply glosses over the inherent bias in job interviews and tests. Indeed, these assessments, he argues, favour male candidates because they seek out characteristics such as self-confidence and aggression, which are, despite attempts at being wholly PC, predominant in men.
Rather than choosing an employee on the basis of those characteristics, Lawrence argues, science would be better served “if we gave more opportunity and power to the gentle, the reflective, and the creative individuals of both sexes.” He suggests that if we followed that approach to the selection process, more women would be selected, more would choose to stay in science, and more would get to the top.
He points out that even though discussions of men and women as different are taboo in the current sociopolitical climate we are nevertheless “constitutionally different”. This intrinsic diversity, Lawrence suggests, is not something to hide and employ in political battles, but something to “celebrate and discuss openly…both women and men should be leading such discussions with pride,” he adds.
Further reading on women in science