Weird Gender Science

An article in The Atlantic reports research showing that in the most gender-equal nations fewer women go into the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), whereas in the least gender-equal nations many more women enter STEM. How do they explain those findings?

The upshot of this research is neither especially feminist nor especially sad: It’s not that gender equality discourages girls from pursuing science. It’s that it allows them not to if they’re not interested.

It turns out that when women feel free to choose their path in life, it most often is not in STEM. When women see few choices to independence, STEM looks like an “out,” a route to a career in an otherwise unsupportive culture.

Policy Rx: If you’d have more women go into STEM, repress them.
Analysis: That policy won’t win votes.