Analysis of Media Coverage of the Summers Controversy Essay

Analysis of Media Coverage of the Summers Controversy - Essay Example Summers emphasized that this evidential difference between men and women in sciences could not be overlooked. The media blew Summers’ remarks out of proportion in the ensuing controversy, reporting that the academic was a chauvinist, who upheld the notion that women are naturally inferior to men.   In my opinion, the media framed and perpetuated the controversy, missing out on the fact that he was hypothesizing on the significant gap between men and women while trying to provoke further research into the issue. Summers was wrong to state that women are inherently inferior to men since he did not have any scientific evidence to prove this; further, his tendency to understate the role of gender and socialization in the same, lowers the credibility of his hypotheses. Summers' controversial remarks were first published in the Boston Globe newspaper. The paper primarily focused on the Harvard president’s second suggestion on the potential cause for fewer female representat ives in sciences. This statement quoted Summers stating that males attain higher test scores in science and math than females. He continued to say that although nobody could explain this occurrence, studies in behavioral genetics shows that aspects usually attributed to conditioning or socialization could actually be based on biology. The Boston Globe reported that conference participants said that in making this point, Larry Summers was implying that women do not possess the same scientific and mathematical ability as men.