This entry from dooce.com really cracked me up today.

And, since I still haven't gotten around to raging about all the ninkcumpoops (is that how you spell that? hm...) who think "girls are no good at math", here's one more good read from Ms. Magazine to add more fuel to the fire. The one good thing about the Harvard president's comments is that it reminds some of my female engineering friends who think feminism is an outdated (and possibly unnecessary) movement for the 21st century that there are still people out there that think women can't/shouldn't do stuff. And that they are wrong. And that we need people to fight that attitude.

To make you even angrier, there are some scary commentators out there that agree with this blatant sexism and are using the controversy to further perpetuate the idiotic stereotype that girls aren't "wired" for math and science.

Of course, men and women are different. Of course, we think differently, and the causes are both biological and sociological. I also believe that any two men think differently. And any two women. That's the beauty of mankind, we are all unique.

Math, science and engineering is, at its most fundamental level, reasoned problem solving. Everyone's approach to problem solving is unique to their own personality. Now, in our education, we are taught some common approaches, things that work well for a wide variety of problems. Anyone can be taught those approaches. For some people, its harder to understand than others. But with practice, you get it, just like all kids eventually learn to read or do multiplication tables, and with practice, a grown-up can improve their performance in chess or on crossword puzzles.

But here's the thing about math and science, there isn't "one way" to do it, there isn't "one way" of thinking to solve a problem. There are about a million different ways to approach a problem of science, and in the end there is only one solution. One of the things I love abou about science (and math and engineering) is team work -- a lot of people attacking a problem from different sides and sharing their revelations with each other. Its a community effort. How would many men like it if I argued that MEN didn't belong in engineering because they weren't "innately wired" to work in teams to solve problems as a member of community, and that cooperation was an innately female skill?

If only the people running our most pretigious educational institutions (or at least Harvard) recognized that both men and women have something to offer every field, every profession, that they have an equal chance of succeeding and should be encouraged to follow their interests and talents. NOT to mention, we're on the brink of a national crisis in technical talent, despite growing demand, we have shrinking numbers of technically trained young people. We can suppliment this by encouraging more women to train in technical fields. Whereas women make up 50% of law and medical schools, they are still less than 20% of engineering schools (and even less of science and engineering graduate students) -- its an untapped wealth of good minds available to help our country succeed as a leader of innovation and invention!