Publisher's Synopsis
Why do women and men tend to specialize in different subject areas? What is it like being a woman in a "man's" subject and a man in a "woman's" subject? does higher education play a part in reinforcing gender equality? This book focuses on the arts/science divide; taking two representative subjects, Physics and English. Through them it examines the way each is constructed by lecturers and students and the relationship between these constructions and the social constructions of gender. For example, the author argues that students choose which subjects to study for a variety of reasons, including beliefs about "masculinity" and "femininity".
She argues that the boundaries between different disciplines are often artificial and limiting and for this reason she also looks at attempts on polytechnics to remove interdisciplinary barriers, asking whether subjects such as communications and physical science provide a challenge to traditional university subjects like English and Physics. The author concludes that universities have largely been complacent about the issue of gender inequality and suggests that a fresh look at current practices is overdue.
