Though more and more women have opted for scientific careers in recent decades, they still constitute less than one-fourth of America’s 3.3 million scientists and engineers. In physics and engineering, two of the most “hard-core” fields, the proportion is even smaller. Is this really a problem?

Many people committed to the advancement of women in science—including the members of a recent congressionally mandated commission—answer yes. Women are not inherently less capable than men in these fields, they argue, so if America wants to make use of its best scientific minds, it must not neglect the female ones. But lately, reports Holden, a Science staff writer, some dissenting scholars have risen to argue that the relative paucity of women in those fields is mainly a reflection of natural male-female differences, and that efforts to fix this non-problem could have unfortunate consequences.

To continue reading, please click Download PDF, above.