Bias in Favor of Women in Science
April 21, 2015
HEATHER MAC DONALD describes a study of 371 colleges and universities conducted by the Cornell Institute for Women in Science based on three hypothetical applicants for tenure-track positions in science:
The job-search packages for the applicants included a search committee’s report, quotes from letters of recommendation, and an overall numerical score. The academic qualifications of two of those hypothetical candidates, a male and a female, were equal. A third male candidate was slightly inferior to the other two.
The nearly 900 faculty members, half male, half female, from all four fields preferred female applicants over identically qualified males by two to one. Only male economics professors showed no gender preference; female economics professors chose the female candidate by a ratio of two to one.
