Women in biology

[Cindy Hale]

Cynthia wrote...
"I am scheduled to teach an undergraduate seminar course next fall and I get
to pick the topic.  The students would all be Biology seniors ... I thought 
it might be interesting to get a book on Women in Science and their 
discoveries and follow past formats.  I was a little hesitant about having 
such a topic with both male and female students in the class so, I asked 
some of my maleadvisees what they thought about the idea and it was 100% 
against!  They said maybe if the women talked about women and the men 
talked about men it would be okay but, they still didn't like the idea.  
Some of the opposition is cultural but, I am even more in support of doing 
something on this topic"

If the roles were reversed would female students seem "reasonable" if they 
didn't want to hear about male scientists??  This attitude in your male 
students is arrogant and bigotted and they should be called on it.  
Pandering to their small-mindedness will only encourage it.  NO 
explanations or apologies should be made regarding the legitamacy of 
recognizing women scientists and both the faculty and the student body 
(male and female) need to hear this loud and clear.

Cindy Hale
The Natural Resources Research Institute
University of Minnesota-Duluth