SHELBY OPPEL WOOD

Harvard University President Lawrence Summers angered some of the nation's top women scientists recently when he suggested that genetic differences may help explain why fewer women than men succeed in science and math careers.

But Allyson Brown was unruffled.

The Lake Oswego ninth-grader is too busy earning A's in biology and geometry and refining the portable wheelchair ramp she designed at a Girl Scout engineering camp to notice the flap, which has drawn national headlines and set university faculties buzzing.

"If I hold a patent on it, what I could do is just design the whole thing and sell it to a company to produce," she said, referring to her invention. "I think that would actually be pretty awesome."

Brown, 14, and an increasing number of her female peers are finding their way into science, math and engineering through programs offered by the Girl Scouts, Oregon universities and industry sponsors such as Intel. The girls' enthusiasm and aptitude refute the old charge that women can't compete, say Summers' Oregon critics.

At Oregon's public universities, women are receiving a greater share of degrees in engineering and physical sciences than they did a decade ago.

Nationally, men earn most of the bachelor's degrees in engineering, computer science and the physical sciences, while women earn most of the bachelor's degrees in psychology, biological sciences and social sciences, the National Science Board reports.

Yet women have received an increasing share of the bachelor's degrees awarded in all major science and engineering fields since the mid-1960s, except math and computer science, according to the National Science Foundation.

Boys historically have scored higher than girls on national math and science tests. But on tests given to 12th-graders, the gap in math narrowed to one that was statistically insignificant in 1999, the National Center for Education Statistics reported. Boys on average still score higher in science, but their lead is shrinking.

Last year, Oregon sent more girls than boys to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. And next month, 500 girls will attend Girls Engineering Day at Portland State University, sponsored by the Girl Scouts Columbia River Council. Three hundred girls are on the waiting list.

"Clearly, it's not innate differences" holding women back from greater success in math and science, said Morgan Anderson,Intel's education relations manager.

Still, women are far from parity with men among research university faculty in science and math, and in job fields such as engineering and computer science. Summers, Treasury secretary under President Clinton, had been asked to address reasons behind the disparity in a speech Jan. 14 to a conference on women and minorities in the science and engineering work force.

Summers apologizes

Several women who heard his remarks, which were not recorded, said Summers suggested that differences in innate ability between girls and boys were partly to blame. The comments, especially from the president of Harvard, were irresponsible and could discourage young women from math and science careers, his critics charged.

In apologies this week, Summers said his talk was misconstrued, and that "I do not believe that girls are intellectually less able than boys, or that women lack the ability to succeed at the highest levels of science."

Geraldine Richmond, who holds an endowed professorship in chemistry at the University of Oregon, heard of Summers' remarks from colleagues who heard him speak. She called his comments "remarkably stupid."

Although women are receiving degrees in science and math in greater numbers, they aren't filling research university positions at the same rate, Richmond said. But blaming the problem on biology obscures real issues that contribute to a "toxic" environment for women in many departments, she said.

Richmond, who was encouraged to bring her two boys to her UO office when they were babies, said women at other universities haven't been as fortunate. She cited two women in post-doctoral programs who, after getting pregnant, were told by advisers that "they should do something about" their pregnancy because motherhood would hurt their careers.

Cynthia Brown, chairwoman of PSU's computer science department, said people used to think women weren't smart enough to be doctors. Now, most medical school applicants are women. Cultural expectations likely play a role in the disparities in math and computer science, said Brown, who has a doctorate in mathematics.

"You see it on TV and in the movies, women doctors and women lawyers," she said. "How many women mathematicians or computer scientists do you see in those venues? It's always a guy."

As her elders struggle to translate women's educational gains in math and science into greater representation in academia and industry, Allyson Brown isn't worried. Girl Scouts and science fairs have shown her how to approach problems as an engineer. At her first science fair last year, she scored two top honors.

"I wasn't sure about (engineering). I wasn't sure if I really liked it," she said. "And then I got these awards. And I was like, apparently I'm good at it. Being good at what you do is usually a good thing."

Shelby Oppel Wood: 503-221-5368; shelbyoppel@news.oregonian.com

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