“Sexism in Science Universities” by Farha Khalidi is an article that takes an interesting perspective on gender inequality in colleges. The author speaks about how, not only are men over represented in the STEM field, but women in the field are mistreated. Although the author provides some prevalent anecdotes about real people, as I read the article, I tended to disagree with many of the author’s points.
The author states, “The virtually insignificant number of women who enter science majors is a direct indication that this sexism manifests itself especially in college science programs-- especially engineering. A mere 19.1% of United States engineers are women…” Females, contrary to the author’s belief, are underrepresented in college science programs, not because there is an underlying sexism in these colleges, but because women generally don’t apply to STEM schools nearly as often as men. In fact, in many science schools, such as MIT, CIT, and Harvey Mudd University, a higher percentage of women that apply are accepted than compared to the percentage of men who apply to them same schools. Now, I do not think that is sexism against women.
Later on in the article, the author interviews Ashira J., who declares, “Unfortunately it is not enough to prove your intelligence through your work, but apparently you also need to prove yourself with your appearance.” The author states that this is an example of how college societies have a double-standard in professionalism, in that women are judged more harshly based of their appearance than men; that women are expected to dress professionally, while men are left off the hook. As a male, I can confidently say that what she is saying applies to both genders, and therefore is not sexism. If any person, male or female, dresses inappropriately, then yes, you will be judged, as appearance is just another way to prove yourself and your dedication to your field. This applies to both males and females. To me, Ashira is not making a statement about sexism, but is simply complaining that she can’t wear inappropriate or unprofessional clothing on campus, even though those rules apply to everyone.
In an attempt to explain why the author believes these sexist biases, she interviews a chemical engineer, who states, “Sexism comes from ignorance and is not intentionally existent.” While this is true, it also applies to something else, which I feel is the real root of these women’s problems: perceived sexism. Many times in the article, the author (and her interviewees) state “society tells us” or “we are told”. However, these women are really telling themselves that society sets constructs against them; these women are telling themselves that they are being told to hold themselves back. In reality, we no longer have almost any sexist ideologies left in a developed country like the United States of America, and these people are only harming themselves by telling themselves that there are these non-existent social constructs set against them. I know these women have good intentions, but by reducing coverage of sexism problems to trivial levels, we are distracting ourselves from real sexism that is occurring right now in other nations, like Saudi Arabia. We need to refocus on the problems in these countries, where women are actually discriminated, and are lacking many basic human right that men in the same country have.