Larry Summers is the president of the liberal echo chamber known as Harvard University. Earlier this week he offered himself up for crucifixion when he spoke to a group of ten people at the National Bureau of Economic Research. One very angry woman walked out of the room after some of his comments.
But what did he really say? When you read the tabloid quality Boston Globe article that broke the news, there are zero controversial quotes from Summers at the conference. All we get is some secondhand revelations from the very people that were angry in the first place. None of what these people claim Summers said can be independently verified.
Here's what the Globe article says Summers said: "He offered three possible explanations, in declining order of importance, for the small number of women in high-level positions in science and engineering."
1) "The first was the reluctance or inability of women who have children to work 80-hour weeks."
2) "Fewer girls than boys have top scores on science and math tests in late high school years. ''I said no one really understands why this is, and it's an area of ferment in social science," Summers said in an interview Saturday. ''Research in behavioral genetics is showing that things people previously attributed to socialization weren't" due to socialization after all.
Asked about this, Summers said, ''It's possible I made some reference to innate differences. . . I did say that you have to be careful in attributing things to socialization. . . That's what we would prefer to believe, but these are things that need to be studied."
Summers said cutting-edge research has shown that genetics are more important than previously thought, compared with environment or upbringing. As an example, he mentioned autism, once believed to be a result of parenting but now widely seen to have a genetic basis."
This was the point that most angered some of the listeners, several of whom said Summers said that women do not have the same ''innate ability" or ''natural ability" as men in some fields."
Note that it says several, not all if the listeners said this...the Globe clearly talked to all of them. Also note that he purportedly said they do not have the same innate or natural ability as men in some fields. That is very different from saying they are inferior.
3) "Referencing a well-known concept in economics, he said that if discrimination was the main factor limiting the advancement of women in science and engineering, then a school that does not discriminate would gain an advantage by hiring away the top women who were discriminated against elsewhere.
Because that doesn't seem to be a widespread phenomenon, Summers said, ''the real issue is the overall size of the pool, and it's less clear how much the size of the pool was held down by discrimination.""
Summers didn't slaughter their sacred cows...he had the guts to question their sacred-ness. And this after he told them repeatedly, "I am going to provoke you."
#1 and #3 are clearly legit academic issues. In #2, did Summers say women are stupid, inferior to men, or that they are incapable of succeeding in math and science? Did he condescend to all women, implying that they should stay home and make cookies? Did he say all women suck at math, or that all women should avoid the field?
Is it possible that there are a few people trying to make headlines here? Is it possible that a few of the listeners are so convinced of their own superiority that they did not appreciate a prominent academic leader questioning their conclusions?
You, the reader, makes the call!
UPDATE: Check out this quote in the Saletan column: "By some accounts, Summers referred to "innate ability" or "natural ability" as a possible explanation for the sex difference in high-school test scores. "
By some accounts! The people who were at this conference, all of whom were interviewed by the Boston Globe, cannot even agree on what Summers really said! Once again: why is this controversial? There are no direct quotes of what he said, and attendees disagree about what he did say. Leave this man alone!
He clearly said all women should stay home and make cookies.
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