How we destroy girls’ ambition

One of the reasons that women on average make less than men, besides the fact that we are more likely to give up jobs and careers for the privilege of raising children, is that we are more likely to choose soft sciences, caring professions and relatively lower paid work. Some think this is biological so nothing can be done. As for myself, I don’t think anything is so cut and dried. It’s notoriously difficult to figure out whether a person’s traits are innate or learned.

As I put it in my post about a gender studies documentary, “I once listened to a radio program about a geneticist who had found that reading ability is about 70% heritable. The interviewer went on to ask if that means we should relax all the programs intended to help kids from all sorts of backgrounds learn to read, as most of the potential is in the genes anyway. The scientist said ‘No! Quite the contrary, it means the other 30% is that much more important.’ ”

Even if there are small differences at birth, environment plays a huge part in our personalities, self concept, identity, dreams and expectations. The fact that the brain has no folds and few synapses at birth should be a testament to that.

While I was writing my post about the wage gap, yet unpublished, I asked some women about their experiences and why they chose the professions they chose. The answers were… enlightening. And in some cases, a bit horrifying. Women weren’t taken seriously, subjects weren’t available and expectations were staggeringly low in some cases. Of course, this wasn’t universal, some women had more encouraging parents and some were unable to pin point what happened. At least one woman was offended that I even asked, thinking that I was personally undervaluing traditionally female roles. It’s not her fault she hadn’t read my blog and didn’t know me.

Anyway, here is the curated list of my favorites. Lets try to do better for our own daughters ok?

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