Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers has lessons to learn about
tact and diplomacy, but his job should not be on the line for
comments he made about the intelligence of women.
In January, Summers said there are three possible explanations
for the dearth of women in top-level scientific jobs. Among the
explanations was the idea that men had more variability in their
intelligence scores, and therefore there were more male geniuses
than female geniuses ““ and thus more male chemists and
physicists.
While this may not be a politically correct notion, test scores
lend some technical credence to his claim.
One of the reasons Summers’ remarks received such a strong
reaction was that he downplayed social factors and suggested the
gender differences were the result of genetic differences. Right or
wrong, Summers should have the right to raise such a question for
debate.
But Summers also should have realized his remarks would be
controversial, especially because he influences hiring decisions at
Harvard.
He should have immediately released a transcript of his remarks
along with an explanation of his views and academic evidence in
support of them. Summers offended many of the women he works with,
and he has a duty to reassure them that he respects their
abilities.