Should there be more women in science and engineering?

dc.creatorBouville, Mathieu
dc.date2006-11-09
dc.date2007-03-27
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T09:58:01Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T09:58:01Z
dc.descriptionMany people hold this truth to be self-evident, that there should be more female students in science and engineering. Typical arguments include possible benefits to women, possible benefits to the economy, and the unfairness of the current female under-representation. However, these justifications are never explicitly and thoroughly presented. Clearly stating and scrutinizing them, we show that they in fact have logical flaws. When made consistent, these arguments do not unconditionally justify enrolling more women in scientific disciplines. In particular, what women want must be taken into account. Outreach programs towards K-12 girls must therefore purport to allow them to choose a field freely, rather than try to draw as many of them to scientific disciplines as possible. This change of mindset must be accompanied by a close examination of the purpose and effects of these programs. Keywords: female students, higher education, university, ethics, policy, outreach programs, minority students
dc.description9 pages; long version of "Should we enrol more female students in physics?" published in the April 2007 issue of Physics World
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0611089
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0611089
dc.identifierScience and Engineering Ethics, vol. 14, p. 279 (2008)
dc.identifierdoi:10.1007/s11948-007-9038-1
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/167563
dc.subjectPhysics and Society
dc.subjectPhysics Education
dc.titleShould there be more women in science and engineering?
dc.typetext

Files

Collections