Well, around his time most of the scientists of the world were mainly still men. There were some pretty ridiculous rumors going around, too. Once that idea was finally fixed and then trashed, other rumors started to fly. But, people would actually believe this stuff, and many people still have the attitude that women should not bother becoming educated or have jobs like men do. So our little lesson in history brings us to the present.
Women are less likely to choose science and engineering than they are to choose other fields.
In 1993, women earned only about one-third of the bachelor's degrees in mathematics and physical sciences, and 16 percent of bachelor's degrees in engineering. Women's earnings, on average, are still less than 70 percent of men's earnings. There are, of course, many other statistics that show what people now think the future holds. For example, between the years 1900 and 2005, women will account for 15 million or 62 percent of the net growth of the labor force. In 1970 and 1980, women's share of the labor force was only 38 percent and 42 percent, respectively.