A Little about Myself, and More about a More Important Matter — the Brain

Abstract

If one compares the relative numbers of men and women among college students and heads of scientific departments and institutes, one becomes immediately aware that comparatively few women achieve leading positions in the sciences. In seeking the reasons for this, much can be ascribed to tradition and, not yet everywhere legally overthrown, discrimination against women — much, but not all. There are countries, and in this respect my own country has dealt very satisfactorily with this problem, where the law fully supports and protects equal rights for men and women. Some aspects of the present situation are certainly determined by the women themselves. For quite understandable biological reasons they prefer more often than men not to choose professions that demand incessant work — and real science does not permit one ever to relax, morning, noon or night. But if we construct a pyramid with the base representing the number of men and women who have already chosen the not-so-easy scientific career, here also the proportion of women will rapidly fall off towards the peak. Female biology is not quite faultless here either, of course, but that is not the only factor.