Can a Woman be a Scientist?

There has been a big brouhaha around the recent remarks of the President of Harvard University about women and science and math.

Unfortunately there were no transcripts of the speech and so we are all left to speculate.

Apparently he said that women aren't really able to succeed in those fields the same way men do mostly because of the lifestyle choices they end up making, such as wanting to have children and raise a family, are at odds with the demanding careers of science and math. He also apparently sited biologic differences as a culprit.

A lot of people, especially women, have decided that such statement are wholly unfair to women and just deepen the already present discrimination against women in the sciences. They feel that Harvard itself should take back this statement that in their eyes reads as Harvard feeling that women aren't as good at math and science.

Here's the thing, though, that's not what he said. From what I've been able to gather, he never said women can't do math or science or aren't good at it. He just made a statement that they might not advance as far because there is a difference between the sexes, and that difference can effect the career outcomes. This makes perfect sense to me.

Growing up the daughter of a very strong women's libber, it took some time for me to comfortable with saying that there are differences between men and woman, beyond the dangly bits, of course. Neither sex is better or worse, but they are two wholly different creatures who think and act in wholly different manners. It is an insult to women to say they are the same as men, and vice versa. These statements can be made without any sort of judgment being applied to them. This is not that same as Orwell's "all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." Anyone who denies these differences is denying the inherent positives that each sex has and by the same token the possible issues each has to deal with. Women are the ones who have children and almost all of the time are the ones who raise them. Despite the current mindset, it is very hard to really dedicate yourself to your family AND your career. It sucks, but it's true, you end up having to make some sort of choice in the matter. If you choose your family, you must be aware that your career will suffer. If you are a scientist perhaps that means that you will not be as ahead in your research as your male counterparts. This is no way suggests that you cannot do the research or are dumber than your peers. It just means you might not have the time or energy to devote that they do.

As for the biological difference, I'm not as informed but I have heard quite a lot about the biological differences and the way men and women think as a consequence. It is not unlikely that the average man might be better at math or science while the average women is better at something like language. Again, this doesn't imply judgement, just a factual difference.

Maybe since I am a woman I should be as equally offended as everyone else seems to be.
But to me, this just makes sense.