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Well, you are a scientist, and this article is literally all  
anecdotal, kind of surprising since barre is a scientist (well, OK, a  
social scientist ;^)), as are most of the people he quotes.  In my  
own experience,  this article is missing the most important reason  
for the difference in institutional success in the sciences between  
men and women. Research labs, universities, and other arenas in which  
scientists work are set up to give an advantage to someone who is not  
primarily responsible for children.  If you choose to make  
childrearing your primary concern, or at least allow it to compete  
actively with your professional interests, then you are at a severe  
disadvantage in many workplaces.  This is one of the significant  
reasons that women are so dominant in teaching, because it allows  
them to succeed and actively raise a child.  Of course men can be  
primary caregivers, but I believe that all the statistics and  
anecdotes demonstrate that this is atypical.

Mr. Barres individual stories of discrimination, and the others cited  
in that article, do not make a compelling case that individual bias  
against women is the major cause of the difference in participation  
as professionals.  It is undoubtedly a factor, but I believe that the  
reasons are more institutional and systemic.

Eric Siegel
New York Hall of Science
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(718) 699-0005 x 317



On Jul 15, 2006, at 12:20 AM, M.P. Bumsted wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> ********************************************************************** 
> *******
>
> I hope this article below gets widely noticed (I also need to find  
> the original in Nature). Two primary points--
>
> * Barres said he has realized from personal experience that many  
> men are unconscious of the privileges that come with being male,  
> which leaves them unable to countenance talk of glass ceilings and  
> discrimination.
>
> This is a very difficult concept to express to others (especially  
> to men who honestly believe they don't discriminate against women).  
> I have tried to use the example of colleagues, or mentors and  
> proteges, who discuss their project animatedly and enthusiastically  
> while on the way to the restroom....
>
> * Barres said the switch had given him access to conversations that  
> would have excluded him previously.
>
> If one wants to know what majority institutions and governments  
> think of ethnic minorities (i.e., native and non-native or Hispano  
> and non-Hispano) ask an Anglo/Gussack /Pakeha trained in  
> participant/observation who's been in "both worlds".
>
> ============================================
> Male Scientist Writes of Life as Female Scientist
> Biologist Who Underwent Sex Change Describes Biases Against Women
>
> By Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post Staff Writer
> Thursday, July 13, 2006; Page A10
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/12/ 
> AR2006071201883.html
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> M. Pamela Bumsted, Ph.D.
> PO Box 1951, Bethel, Alaska 99559 USA
> telephone (907) 543-4146
> ===> Capacity-building among tribal governments and rural  
> communities in environment, health, information technology, natural  
> resources, and science * Community-based research, economic  
> development, & management * Cultural resources & museums *  
> Strategic planning, public involvement * Teaching, including  
> community outreach and public interpretation **
>
> Just as people must share seal meat and oil to maintain physical  
> and social well-being, so, too, must they share knowledge--so that  
> their minds will not rot.
>
> Opportunity to share information about H5N1 and bird flu in western  
> Alaska
> http://ykalaska.uniblogs.org/welcome/
>
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> *
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