April 2000
[Monique Frize, who holds the NSERC/Nortel Joint Chair for Women
in Science and Engineering (Ontario), University of Ottawa and Carleton
University, wrote a response to Doreen Kimura’s criticisms of the NSERC
Faculty Awards being restricted to women. (Dr. Frize did not state
where she read Kimura’s views. It may have been Kimura’s letter to
NSERC committees.) Kimura has submitted this reply to the magazine.
– Ed.]
It is disappointing when someone holding a chair in science and engineering
puts more reliance on personal anecdotes than on objective evidence (“Women
role models do make a difference” University Affairs, April 2000).
Though I don’t doubt there are individual instances of sexual harassment
in some universities, this has not prevented women from increasingly entering
fields of science other than the physical sciences. If Dr. Frize
wishes to enlighten herself on some of the reasons women tend not to enter
engineering and physical sciences, I will be happy to provide her with
references to published studies (not my own). Neither she nor anyone
else has satisfactorily explained why women need exclusive access to awards
(University Faculty Awards) which ought to go to the best qualified candidates,
NOT just to the best qualified women. NSERC’s tired refrain that
women are “under-represented” in these sciences is simply an ill-informed
description of a situation, it is not an explanation. When these
awards were open to both men and women, women received at least their proportional
share. Why then would bright qualified women object to a fair competition?
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