Instruction
Discussion question on gender:
Gender differences between men and women in STEM fields have been the subject of great debate. Notably, in 2005, then-President of Harvard Lawrence Summers proposed that the reason why there aren’t more women in top science positions may be due to “issues of intrinsic aptitude.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/18/education/furor-lingers-as-harvard-chief-gives-details-of-talk-on-women.h.) More recently, in August of 2017, Google engineer James Damore wrote in a now-viral memo (https://gizmodo.com/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-diversity-screed-1797564320) that “the distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes and that these differences may explain why we don’t see equal representation of women in tech and leadership.”
Let’s say you find yourself in a conversation with someone who tells you, “Men just have better spatial skills than women.” How would you construct an evidence-based argument in response to that claim that is in line with these resources? (response in 150 words)