The Boston Globe has a provocative article that sheds some new light on the old debate over why there are so few women in maths and physical science subjects. One important factor seems to be that they simply choose other professions, but if you think this answer is too simplistic, there may be more to it than meets the eye.
It no longer seems to be the case that women are being explicitly blocked from maths, physics and engineering jobs, although the number of women in these professions is still very small.
One strong argument for why women are in the minority is that they suffer from the effects of implicit sexism, a system designed to take advantage of male attributes and life choices.
Some argue that the lack of support and consideration for women's lives puts them off, and so they decide against what seems like a bad option.
However, the article presents an interesting piece of evidence against this as being the major influence.
Link to Boston Globe article on women in science and engineering.
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