Why can't girls do math?

Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers found himself in the middle of a controversy this week.  According to the Boston Globe:

The president of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers, sparked an uproar at an academic conference Friday when he said that innate differences between men and women might be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers. Summers also questioned how much of a role discrimination plays in the dearth of female professors in science and engineering at elite universities.

At this point MIT Biologist and Harvard alumnus, Nancy Hopkins could take no more. She got up and left saying that if she had stayed, she would have "either blacked out or thrown up."

When I first heard of Summer's remarks, I could scarcely believe my ears. I thought of my own daughters, one of whom is gifted in mathematics, and I was upset.

The more I think about it, the less sure I am.

My first reaction was exactly like that of Ms. Hopkins, "How could he say such a thing."

The dis-oriented author himself graduated with a degree in mathematics. Therefore, I have seen the anecdotal evidence (or lack of evidence) about women in mathematics. When I was in college, we alternately called the engineering building, Chinatown or The Monastery.

I rarely had a math or computer class with more than two women in it — most had none. On the other hand one of the best math professors I had was a woman who had gotten her Ph.D. in the fifties when it was practically unheard of. Even today as a computer consultant and trainer, it is rare that even 10 percent of my students are women.

So why is this so?

I have long believed that it is because in our culture, women are not encouraged to study mathematics or science. I assumed that  this combined with the limited opportunities for women to earn tenure in math and sciences contributes to the problem.

There is a shortage of women professors and combined with the current trend towards affirmative action the situation is getting desperate out there. I  recall my own university days when a woman showed up for a search committee session, we almost automatically assumed that she would choose a larger more prestigious school because everyone was trying to fill a quota.

No one denies that there is a shortage of women in math and the sciences. But the question is why.

The debate comes back to nature vs nurture. I find it hard to believe that women cannot excel in math to the same degree that men do.

But the debate is not about what I (or anyone else) believe or would prefer. We have reached such an extreme of political correctness that it is taboo to even suggest certain hypotheses.

Perhaps there are innate differences between men and women that explain why so few women pursue careers in math or science. But if we castigate anyone who asks the questions — how do we expect to find the answers.