RANJIT S. DIGHE
Oswego, N.Y.
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Contrary to Sally Quinn's suggestion [Style, Feb. 19], the anger that greeted Lawrence H. Summers's speech about the differences between men and women in the sciences was not "hysterical."
Notable for its absence, both in Mr. Summers's speech and in the Feb. 19 editorial defending him, was another "reason" for the absence of women in the upper echelons of academic science: gender discrimination.
Among my friends is a brilliant academic physician, now head of a department at a prestigious university. But at every turn of her career, she was stymied, paid less and required to be better to be treated equally.
The alleged "hysteria" is rooted in the knowledge among female professionals that discrimination is not a relic of the past and that the "reasons" Mr. Summer discussed are often used to disguise such discrimination.
KAY GARTRELL
Bethesda
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How many male writers at The Post would write, "I can barely add and subtract"? Yet that's exactly what Sally Quinn wrote in her Feb. 19 Style essay that discussed Lawrence H. Summers's comments regarding women, math and science.
Women, including some highly visible ones, seem to think it is fine to confess how poorly they did in math. Does one ever hear men doing so?
Surely, some men among us also did poorly in math. That was my experience when I taught high school math years ago. Yet during parent-teacher conferences, mothers would be quick to express how poorly they did in algebra or geometry while fathers never said any such thing.
No wonder we have a problem. Ms. Quinn wants women who excel in math and science to step up to the plate, but the help needs to come from a society that does not find women doing poorly in math so adorable.
LIZA COVERT
Reston
