So what should be considered when trying to figure out how to increase the number of females in top science positions at universities? Try, housework! This study focused only on scientists and studied scientist that were in a partner relationship. They found out what percent of each household activity the male partner did and the female partner did. And what do you know, female scientists (in a partnership relationship) are more likely to spend around another 10 hours a week doing household activities, making a total of 20 hours of household chores a week!Recently my husband and I were discussing multi-tasking, and I made the general statement that I thought women were better at it than men. However we had been talking about a lab experiment type of situation, and he claimed that he didn't know of any gender research that proved that point. Afterwards I reflected on my generalization - did I really "think" we're better multi-taskers, I certainly "feel" it, and if so what variables are at play. I realized that unfortunately the variables that make me believe that we are explanations like I feel compelled to get 101 things done before I do something of personal enrichment like reading the newspaper, or responding to email at the weekend. I have laundry to put away, kids hair to brush, birthday presents to buy, shoes to polish, homework to do with kids, ride shares to schedule, put away toys, sort out old books from kids book shelves, and on, and on. Seriously, am I multi-tasking or am I prioritizing differently? So if it were an experiment and one task were to read an article on the internet for personal enjoyment, and the other was to complete some household tasks to keep the family running - I would probably score 100% on the household chores but run out of time for the article, whereas my husband would probably score 100% on the reading task (oh, and then some because why not check out another article related to one you're reading about, and maybe wikipedia also has something to say about it....) and he'd score significantly lower on the household tasks, though some of the tasks would definitely be somewhat completed but probably not in a sustainable manner. So I'm not entirely sure if it is multi-tasking I should be comparing the genders on but sustainable household management behaviors.
(However I still declare that let's just take the task of being able to walk up the stairs, notice items on the lower steps that need picking up and putting in a room upstairs, before sitting in front of the office computer a multi-tasking event - and I know which gender does that one WAY better than the other).
