What Role Does Scientific Knowledge Play In Influencing Social Patterns Of Gender?

THE ROLE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE IN INFLUENCING THE SOCIAL PATTERNS OF GENDER
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What Role Does Scientific Knowledge Play in Influencing Social Patterns of Gender?
Scientifically, gender refers to the masculine or feminine traits expressed by an individual. According to science, gender refers to where an individual fit on the gender spectrum. However, recent studies on gender try to avoid stereotyping. An example would be assuming that individuals are automatically good at certain activities because of their gender. The concept of gender is mainly focused on males and females, even though there might be more categories. One category is intersex, which refers to an individual with a unique biological makeup that does not match that of the ordinary male and female. Such individuals can have a combination of both male and female genitalia. Another category is transgender, which refers to individuals whose mental, psychological, and emotional view differs from their physical appearance (Ghosh 2015). This means that an individual can be biologically male but have female emotions. Currently, social norms play a huge role in underpinning practices which are seen as unusual or problematic. Gender norms relate specifically to gender differences. This refers to the informal rules and shared social prospects that differentiate expected behavior based on gender (Loscocco and Spitze 2007, p. 934). The perception of gender and the association between gender and expected behavior is influenced by various factors, among them being scientific knowledge. This essay seeks to discuss how scientific knowledge contributed to our perception of gender.
There are various approaches that can be used to understand gender patterns. The first is gender theory, which focuses on anthropology, sociology, and an emphasis on how individuals are influenced into adhering to specific cultural values that dictate gender patterns. The other is a social norm, which refers to behavioral economics and social psychology to understand how an individual’s behavior is influenced by social expectations. These approaches have been used to dictate relations which empower different groups within the society with authority, entitlements, and material resources. Since individuals are already pre-programmed to the gender norms and expectations about how male and female should think and behave, it makes it less likely for such individuals to divert from these norms. The ideas, therefore, set boundaries which boys and girls, as well as adult men and women, are expected to adhere to. Nonetheless there are several scientific studies that prove these gender differences are valid.
A study by Halpern et al. (2007, p. 3), investigated the speculations concerning gender differences in careers that require high levels of knowledge in mathematics and science. According to the authors, males are more variable on most measures of visuospatial and quantitative ability. For this reason, males are more qualified to partake in careers in science and math since they require various types of cognitive abilities. On the other hand, women are highly equipped with verbal abilities, as well as in writing. Such abilities, however, can prove useful in the field of math and science since both fields require good communication skills and an ability to comprehend abstract ideas. This means that although men can outperform women in visuospatial abilities, women are equally equipped with verbal and communication abilities, which are also necessary for both fields. Furthermore, the difference in the level of knowledge in this field is dependent on various sociocultural factors, including experience and training, cultural factors, schooling influence, family and peer influence (Smyth and Nosek 2015). This scientific research, therefore, reveals that gender differences in careers are more complex since it is dependent on other factors which have no relation to gender differences. Because of this, more women have taken up roles in the field of science. Nonetheless, stereotyping is still prevalent in the majority of individuals still believing that science-is-male. The failure of most women to consider careers in science is brought about by factors such as inadequate information regarding the nature of opportunities in various scientific domains and stereotyping (Smyth and Nosek 2015). This scientific knowledge reveals that women can fill scientific roles and perform similar tasks as men as long as they are offered the chance from a younger age. Based on the article, as more individuals, specifically, women, engage in the scientific discipline, their perception about the science-is-male stereotype weakens. This indicates ...