Under The Microscope

WOMEN AND SCIENCE: THE SNARK SYNDROME, by Eileen Byrne; Falmer Press (distributed by Hodder Headline) 1993; 208 pages; $55.95

So said the Bellman in Lewis Carroll's Hunting of the Snark, thus providing the apt subtitle for Byrne's look at some of the unfounded assumptions common in discussions of why girls and women are under-represented in science and technology. Byrne and her group at the University of Queensland have taken a long, hard look at research into this area, and have conducted thorough, solid research of their own.

The Bellperson is alive and well, and continues to influence science education policies and equal opportunity initiatives on the basis of "if it's said often enough, it must be true". Included in Byrne's study are investigations of whether girls really do better in science and technology at single-sex schools (no, they don't); whether female role models actually have a positive effect on recruitment of women students (no, they don't); and whether mentors have to be of the same sex to be effective (no, they don't).

Byrne argues that it would be more effective to recognise that science and technology, for the present at least, are male dominated and that, therefore, it is vital to work on the attitudes of boys and men. Having a couple of women lecturers on staff does not work; sending girls to single-sex schools is not a useful response.

The social research is carefully described and -- a rare thing -- has a solid empirical base. The clear summaries to each chapter and their implications for policy development are thought-provoking and, in some cases, disturbing. It's a worry to see how the Snark Syndrome dominates this area.

This is a very cogent piece of work with much to challenge in the way of reader assumptions. It should be required reading for any equal opportunity officer and all science-related faculty staff.

Vicki Hyde, NZSM