Innate Gender Differences

I'm a bit behind on my blogging, but I wanted to keep everyone up to date on what I'm doing and where I'm going. On April 19, I ventured up to Harvard (again) for an ISI-sponsored debate at the Harvard Law School.

Earlier this semester, Harvard President Larry Sommers got into some controversy simply for bringing up a discussion over whethere innate gender differences are the reason why there are less women in the top positions in the sciences. Yep, just for bringing it up, he was labeled all sorts of things, and then he ended up back tracking a bit.

So, Christina Hoff-Sommers of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Bartholet debated the question: "Innate Gender Differences: Do They Matter in Academia?"

After the debate, about 10 students, myself, and Hoff-Sommers went out to dinner. She was great! It was the first time I had met her. Some of the students included a few from the Harvard Federalist Society, a few members of the independent women's group within the law school (who actually organized the debate) and a couple other students, including my good friend Rick Buhrman, who is a student in the Business School and who has been generous in putting me up to stay on two separate visits I've made to Harvard this semester. I always learn a lot from him.

And, Ben Shapiro, who has authored the book, "Brainwashed," and is also a student in the law school, came to the debate and dinner. It was my first time meeting him, but I've read plenty of his columns in the past, particularly just before the election, on Townhall.com. We all had some great discussions, and I was surprised we were actually at dinner a bit over 2 hours.

I may have more to say about my Harvard visit... but that will have to wait for later. For now, you can read a review that appeared in "The Record", a Harvard Law publication. I was there and I think the writer got the arguments down pretty solidly. Click here to read it.