Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
Figure 9.9 Bachelor’s Degrees Earned by Women in Selected Fields (2006)
Women tend to earn more degrees in the biological and social sciences, whereas men earn more in engineering,
math, and the physical sciences.
National Science Foundation (2010). Downloaded
from:http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf08321/content.cfm?pub_id=3785&id=2
Differences in degree choice are probably not due to overall intelligence because men and
women have almost identical intelligence as measured by standard IQ and aptitude tests (Hyde,
2005). [11] On the other hand, it is possible that the differences are due to variability in
intelligence, because more men than women have very high (as well as very low) intelligence.
Perhaps success in the mathematical and physical sciences requires very high IQ, and this favors
men.
There are also observed sex differences on some particular types of tasks. Women tend to do
better than men on some verbal tasks, including spelling, writing, and pronouncing words
(Halpern et al., 2007), [12] and they have better emotional intelligence in the sense that they are
better at detecting and recognizing the emotions of others (McClure, 2000). [13]