Scientific difference.

ABSTRACT American research on women's scientific underrepresentation has relied mainly on studies in the United States, survey-type research and Western cultural models. This paucity of cross-cultural data, especially from non-western cultures, impedes our understanding of cross- cultural variations in the science gender gap and significant cultural variability within American society. This paper reports results of anthropologically-oriented research exploring how the cultural and social context in which science is learned and practiced contributes to the gendering …

…ditions which include patrifocal family systems. Most importantly, the India research results strikingly illustrate the need for more cross-cultural, cross-national studies of the educational and science gender gap. As American (and European) scholars, we must be continuously on guard against ethnocentrically assuming that our own cultural models are extendible to other cultural contexts. This is particularly important when such research is being used to design international programs to increase women's participation in science and technology.