The Last Word on Women's Abilities in Math and Science

Remember when Larry Summers, now Director of the White House's National Economic Council, remarked a few years ago, as president of Harvard, that women might not have the same innate aptitude for science and math as men?

I seethed about that statement all over again today when I read about a new study reported in Science Daily showing that a negative stereotype about their ability leaves women less brain power to solve a mathematical problem than someone who believes he's up to the task. Happily, the Indiana University researcher also found that when women are made aware of both a positive and negative stereotype as it relates to their performance, the positive force wins.

It doesn't take a researcher to point out the pernicious effects of negative stereotypes. I know from experience that self-confidence lightens all loads. And as the mother of a three-year-old girl, I'm past ready for society to stop questioning women's ability. I don't want my daughter to think she's bad at math and science--or anything else--just because she was born with two X chromosomes, while her brother whips through with his Y chromosome and sense of entitlement.

I came of age too late for Title IX to make a difference personally, but I see how much the leveling of soccer and lacrosse fields and basketball courts has helped young women have a greater sense of themselves, a gain that extends well past the boundaries of sports.

Unlike Title IX, you can't legislate the way we think. But now that this new research has shown us how the human mind works, we need to lay one more inequity to rest.