Scientists Not Immune From Gender Bias

Scientists Not Immune From Gender Bias

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Hypothesis: Scientists have a superior ability to root out gender bias in their labs because they are trained to rigorously reject subjective criteria. Experimental result: Naaahhh.

Yale University researchers asked 127 scientists to review a job application of identically qualified male and female students and found that the faculty members – both men and women – consistently scored a male candidate higher on a number of criteria such as competency and were more likely to hire the male. The result came as no surprise to Jo Handelsman, lead author of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, and national expert on science education.