Given the tendency of males to occupy the extremes, both the bottom of the barrel and the top of the heap, it should surprise no one that the faculty of the MIT School of Science is mostly male. Of course, some women will appear at the top. Women are clearly among the top scientists in the world. But males would outnumber them by wide margins without any gender discrimination at all. Testosterone, Estrogen, and Talents Males and females are far more alike than they are different in intellectual abilities, but there are certain, quite fascinating exceptions.
Females typically excel in verbal skills.
At the end of high school, for example, females as a group have a substantial advantage in writing ability. That women are surging into law school is far from surprising. Law draws on the verbal talents and human interests common among women, the ability to write persuasive briefs, plead a case with eloquence, and deal with clients and cases in all their human complexities. In engineering and the physical sciences, strong verbal and interpersonal skills do not confer such crucial advantages. Between 20 and 35 years of age, about six out of every seven men outperform the average woman in this area.