MentorNet Founder Responds to Harvard University President's Comments on Women in Science

Dear Members of the MentorNet Community:

As many of you are aware, last Friday, January 14, 2005, Lawrence Summers, President of Harvard University and an economist, spoke before a meeting of the National Bureau of Economic Research, about the causes for women's under-representation in science. He suggested that, since fewer girls than boys have top scores on science and math tests in late high school, perhaps innate, rather than social, differences explain why so few women are successful in these fields.

President Summers' comments have provided a "teachable moment" for us, and we are interested in your response through a special online discussion group offered via MentorNet's E-Forum. Begin by signing in to the MentorNet Community (www.MentorNet.net/signin) and clicking on the E-Forum tab at the top of the screen. Click on the special link marked "Hot Topic" that will take you directly to this discussion group.

I encourage you to engage in discussion -- it is clear that MentorNet's work to encourage women in engineering and related sciences is still needed to move beyond the status quo, and we appreciate your interest and support for our work.

Carol Muller
Founder and CEO
MentorNet
cbmuller@mentornet.net
www.MentorNet.net

For a Letter to the Editor from Carol Muller, Sally Ride, and 98 other academics and scientists, published in the New York Times on January 21, click here.