Essentialism

The concept of Essentialism states that there are innate, essential differences between men and women. That is, we are born with certain traits. This is often used as an explanation for why there are so few women in science and technology. It is also used as a rationale for pigeonholing, offering limited education, hiring discrimination, etc.

Biologically essential differences between men and women's skills and social behaviour — or at least those of men as a group and women as a group — are the subject of active research. The strength of the findings of this research is often exaggerated when repeated, both by the media and by individuals. It is also common to find people in informal situations implying that a difference in the mean or median performance of men and women implies that any individual man will have that same difference from any individual woman.

Incidents

• Lawrence Summers sexist remarks about women in science

Further reading

• Turns out girls are good at math -- who knew? (Feministing)
• Girls' math skills now measure up to boys' (MSNBC)

"Parents and teachers persist in thinking boys are simply better at math, said Janet Hyde, the University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who led the study. And girls who grow up believing it wind up avoiding harder math classes."