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Estrogen Linked to Research and Programming Skills

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the girly-men-and-menly-girls dept.

Neil Halelamien writes "Psychologists at the University of Bath have found that male researchers and programmers tend to have higher levels of estrogen, a hormone which promotes development of the right side of the brain (responsible for spatial and analytical skills). Increased estrogen was also linked to having longer index fingers and a decreased likelihood of having children. Men teaching mathematics and physics tended to have unusually long index fingers, while women in the social sciences tended to have more testosterone. The psychologists also found that male and female students with a smaller difference between their index and ring finger lengths tended to do better on their Java programming exams. The research leaves open the question of why women (who typically have more estrogen than men) aren't more prevalent in the science and technology fields."

5 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. Somebody has to say it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well this is so obvious that I can't believe I'm writing it, but

    A) researchers and programmers aren't exactly the crown monarchs of exorcise. Testosterone isn't just going to pop up out of nowhere while you're setting at a computer.

    B) when doing a test for 'which is greater', there will ALWAYS one side coming out ahead. It doesn't matter whether it has anything to do with the subject. I could do the same thing and test the facial hair of programmers, then conclude that having a beard makes you better at .net.

  2. Another Open Question by hackwrench · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The research leaves open the question of why programmers don't relate to women better.

    1. Re:Another Open Question by benjamindees · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're assuming:

      1) women relate well with each other, and
      2) programmers relate well with anyone.

      --
      "I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
  3. This may explain... by Goth+Biker+Babe · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...why there are a disproportionately higher number of transsexuals in the industry than in other industries.

  4. Specialty of Generalists by simonfunk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Abstract/creative sciences require a balance of concrete and intuitive thinking--programming is an art as much as it is a science. Not to say that highly gendered males don't grok art, but just that people who are somewhat cross-gendered in the womb (which is what the article was about) may well end up with more of a mixture of skills than their strongly gendered counterparts, allowing them to excel at certain tasks (programming, research, etc.) which require a combination of normally disparate skills.