An intellectual survival of women

According to 1980 United Nations figures, women constitute one-half of the world's population and do two-thirds of the work but earn one-tenth of the income and own only one one-hundredth of the property; two-thirds of women are illiterate.

The debate over whether there is a role for women in science and engineering has been going on for centuries. For centuries girls and women in the world are faced with a daunting array of internal and external obstacles to careers in science. There is a stark gender imbalance as far as science and technology are concerned. Researchers have outlined the following psychological, cultural and economic barriers that keep women away from the sciences.

Merely saying that brains are different because he went hunting with a club while she stayed home and swept the cave isn’t enough because it’s not only man and woman who are different from each other, rather every human being is unique in his own way. A common myth prevalent in the society is that science is impersonal and that is attributed to be the chief deterrent for women because of their sensitivity, their language, their childbearing and child rearing, their anger and compassion. But what is seen as their weakness is actually their greatest strength.
Another psychological aspect is the pattern on which the science schools work. In most of the cases the system breeds workaholism and can lead to burnout and women may be even more susceptible to workaholic burnout if they have perfectionist tendencies. A perfectionist has an unrealistically high standard to meet and will sacrifice important responsibilities to meet that standard. The cost a woman pays may be too high for her and may lead to gradual disenchantment with her work and a deadening of the real person inside. Furthermore, the perfectionist's sense of identity and self-worth is tied to how she measures up to that standard. She is constantly on parole. Her successes are viewed as coincidences, but her mistakes are taken as confirmation of incompetence, proof that there's a fraud lurking underneath.

Another major concern is a lack of role models and of female teaching staff in departments, as well as too few women at the top. With no examples to follow the fire is never ignited inside a woman’s soul to gauge her intellectual capabilities to the fullest.

Women who pursue engineering are marginalized by a professional culture that, due to the predominance of men in the work-place, continues to be fundamentally masculine. The result is that, in the male-dominated scientific culture, "a male style of interaction prevails. Women fail to understand the unwritten rules of conduct and as a result, fail to effectively promote their strengths." Even if a woman wades through the adversities and tries to make her mark, she is slowed down both by nature and society. Women, who take maternity leave, often find themselves shunted into more of an admin role through lack of visible progress with research. If a family has a boy and girl, the preference of higher studies will always be given to the male while a woman is pushed into the traditional poses of mother, wife and housekeeper.

When God created this universe, he did not create a superior or an inferior race. So why should we demarcate humanity on the basis of gender. Women are equally capable of exhibiting excellence and brilliance in the fields of science and technology as men. So, let’s all of us try to erase this gender imbalance in science and technology so that we can have more brains working towards human development.