Gender myopia | Mint

American academic Lawrence Summers and Indian bureaucrat N.K. Singh will co-chair a G20 advisory panel on multilateral development institution reforms. Both are accomplished men. Summers is also infamous for a 2005 speech he gave on diversity in science and engineering. Wrapped in the language of statistical variability in aptitude within and between genders, with cultural factors claimed to be nullified in his analysis, he argued that fewer women in these fields were explainable by greater variation among men resulting in more males clearing a high bar. In saying so, Summers implied a role played by an innate gender gap. He was accused of sexism, duly faced a backlash and had to apologize as well as resign from his post as president of Harvard. He had displayed statistical myopia on gender. It’s a problem that arises when data is used in support of an argument without any appreciation of the broad context. Summers downplayed the relevance of complex socio-cultural factors that affect almost all gender outcomes in unequal societies, including those purported to be “plausibly” free of them. Sadly, it’s myopia that appears to afflict even the most learned of men.