Discrimination in Science and Medicine
I recently authored a post at The Differential, Medscape’s group medical student weblog, entitled “Discrimination in Science and Medicine.” Do not go there and read it under any circumstances.
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First, let me say that I agree with you. I might even take it a step further and stay that I think that Affirmative Action is not the solution to the problem of underrepresentation. My personal ideas on how to fix things would cost about a bazillion more dollars and revolve around intervening at a very young age with education and encouragement. But that is a discussion for another time.
I am not a minority but I do have that magically fundable extra X chromosome. And as I read your post I started thinking if that made up for the ridiculous crap I was stunned to encounter during my PhD. I *never* expected to be discriminated against, but as it turned out, I totally was. Or at least certain parts of my anatomy which feature prominently on my ventral surface were. I may come to a place later where I can freely blog about my experience but suffice it to say there were multiple people who let this happen who should not have, including the chair of my department.
What I am trying in a not-so-eloquent way to say is the following:
1. There is still a lot of sexism, especially in science (WAY more than medicine, in my experience) and I am certain the same goes for racism.
2. However, I wholeheartedly agree that rewarding people on the basis of anything other than the quality of their work is stupid.
3. On the other hand, I was prevented from doing my best work because I’m a chick.
4. I’m not sure how to fix it, but I feel very optimistic that things will continue to improve as younger generations move into more powerful positions.
5. Maybe I’m just a daydreaming sucker.
6. In the meantime, I can always fall back on my extra X.
took some balls to write about that stuff man, interesting to read all the opinions/responses.