Sir

In his Commentary article “Does gender matter?” (Nature 442, 133–136; 2006), Ben Barres counters suggestions that women are underrepresented in the sciences because of innate ability.

Barres's graph of maths scores for boys and girls aged 4 to 18 shows that the differences in abilities are small. And yet most winners of the US Putnam mathematics competition each year are men. Putnam winners clearly fall on the far-right tail of the maths IQ curve, and it's precisely in the tails that the gender differences become clear. Male aptitude is more variable and, as Marilyn vos Savant points out in her excellent column “Are men smarter?” (http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2005/ edition_07-17-2005/featured_0), men are overrepresented at both ends of the spectrum. (I call them 'scatter-brained'.)

Although I wouldn't hesitate to speak out in the face of blatant discrimination, as Barres urges, my advice differs from his. Grow a thick skin. If you encounter bias, choose your battles. Don't get distracted by the small stuff, but speak up when it really matters.

Readers are encouraged to add their comments to the Ben Barres Commentary on the Nature News Blog at: http://blogs.nature.com/news/blog/2006/07/ does_gender_matter.html.