Males, Females, and Science Careers

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Through various appropriate and contemporary literatures, this assignment will discuss a universal issue in science. It will evaluate the contributing factors and consequences of the issue and propose suitable resolutions to overcome it. This issue is the differentiation in males and females pursuing science linked careers. Attention should be drawn to the detail that the majority of existing literature on the issue originates from female sources. This is undoubtedly because it is females that are essentially affected by the issue, thus more interest being directed to addressing the issue by females. Although it cannot be proven, this leaves room for potentially bias statements and for this reason all the sources within the assignment are from published sources and organisational bodies to make attempts for a fair, critical look at the issue.

Nationally and internationally, the proportion of females entering science careers, although increasing through the years, remains lesser to their male counterparts (Sikora and Proporek, 2012). It is imperative that an attempt for equilibrium in the numbers of males and females electing science as a career is reached; “men and women may bring different perspectives and interests to scientific research” (Sikora and Proporek, 2012, p. 235), resulting in a wide range of angles and dedication being placed into all areas of science. Investigations and statistics reveal that this is not currently the case and that males are predominantly interested in the Chemical and Physical elements of science compared to women who take more interest in the Biological sciences (Poulson, 2009; UCAS, 2011). Further reasons for the need to eradicate inequalities include a demand for an increase in female ro...

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...e/article/gender-bias-in-teaching/ (Accessed 25: March 2012).

Sevo, R. (2008) The case for Title IX compliance in science and engineering [Online]. Available at: http://momox.org/TitleIXCase.pdf (Accessed: 23 March 2012).

Sikora, J. and Pokropek, A. (2012) ‘Gender Segregation of Adolescent Science Career Plans in 50 Countries’, Science Education, 96 (2), pp. 234-264.

Soard, L. (2012) Textbooks vs Computer Teaching. Available at: http://home-school.lovetoknow.com/Textbooks_Versus_Computer_Teaching (Accessed: 25 April 2012).

UCAS (2010) UCAS statistics [Online]. Available at: http://search1.ucas.co.uk/fandf00/index6.html. (Accessed: 20 March 2012).

Zittleman, K. (2010) Gender Bias is Alive and Well and is Affecting Our Children [Online]. Available at: http://www.pta.org/Gender_Bias_Is_Alive_and_Well_and_Affecting_Our_Children.pdf (Accessed: 25 March 2012).

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