basis for your first point is I have read 100s of such 'studies' over the years, they are not meeting even the most basic scientific standards. I have brought

basis for your first point is I have read 100s of such 'studies' over the years, they are not meeting even the most basic scientific standards. I have brought one such case to the attention of the university of its author -- to no avail, the university buried it. Publication hoaxes like [1] don't exactly increase confidence, as far as I'm aware the author who exposed the publishing hoax was punished. And then there's the replication crisis (which is not limited to the question at hand), e.g. try to find a suitable replication of stereotype threat. Misogyny ... Sexism Misogyny and Sexism are political terms, they are "Essentially Contested Concept" [2]. mostly an economic need for more people in STEM I agree with this, but note that this is a political reason in a general sense, not one of 'oppression'. So you seem to be agreeing. countries that do have more women in STEM Yes, and the best example are the former Soviet block countries. Note that they did not engage in modern affirmative action as we now know them for STEM in the west -- they more or less allocated people to jobs. is a valid concern. Indeed, but I don't see any reason to believe that the current approach in the west is the best possible one. Mostly it seems to be creating an unaccountable, non-democratic industry of enforcers. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essentially_contested_concept https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essentially_contested_concept [2] https://retractionwatch.com/2016/04/07/philosophy-journal-spoofed-retracts-hoax-article/ https://retractionwatch.com/2016/04/07/philosophy-journal-sp...