Woman Between Islam and Western Society
3. Western Woman
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generally less adept than boys at mathematical and
spatial reasoning, they learn to count sooner and to
talk earlier and better. Some scientists think this
female verbal superiority may be caused by sex-
linked differences in the brain. While girls outdo boys
verbally, they often lag behind in solving analytical
problems, those that require attention to detail.
It is a paradox that even though the number of
educated women is at an all-time high, the
representation of women in traditionally male
professions is still extremely low. Harvard
psychologist Matina Horner guessed that one
reason for this may be that women actively fear
success, and began seriously looking into this when
she discovered that the few studies that had been
made of women’s motivation for achievement
showed they had high anxiety. Reasonably certain
that this meant women were afraid of competition,
Horner decided nonetheless to test that assumption.
Putting men and women into competitive and
noncompetitive situations, she found that males
showed a spurt of motivation in competition.
Females did not. It was anxiety about competition
that apparently held the women back.
