As my physics teacher walked down the aisle of desks, he robotically said, “left right, left right.” We all looked at him wondering how crazy he really is, but he then turned to us and proclaimed, “We only have two thoughts, but ladies, you all have about seven at one given time.” Whether that is completely true or not is unknown, but his point is more profound. He was not trying to degrade the intelligence of a women because he constantly kept saying that women, in his mind which I totally agree with, are smarter.
More and more women are joining fields of science that maybe a decade ago were considered too masculine, but disciplines of study in scientific fields that are more chemistry and physics related tend to attract more men. His question was why? Why is it that biology classes are overwhelmingly comprised of women, and the ratio to women to men in a physics class is rarely greater than or equal. His theory- men more often than not can focus on one thought whereas women are focusing on multiple thoughts at once. There is a reason why women can multitask better than men, but in a physics or chemistry class, only one thought takes priority at a time. His own counterargument, however, raised the question of why that still was not a valid enough reason for women not to take physics and chemistry classes.
Regardless of who is smarter, the amounts of thoughts, or stigmas, women should be encouraged to partake in all fields of science. So to all my sisters that know what is in their element, do not feel awkward next time you are in a chemistry class or want to join the robotics team. Do not limit yourself based on the demographic of the participants in your interest, base it on what leaves you feeling sodium positive.
