Gender Differences in Adaptation Patterns

This paper examines adaptation patterns among female scientists in Ghana, Kenya, and Kerala and compares their level of scientific participation with that of males. The author explores if the inhospitable occupational climate in industrialized nations is relatively advantageous for women scientists when compared to the Third World, where women may be especially vulnerable to deleterious scientific conditions exemplified by less developed nations characterized by weak research infrastructures, a lack of anti-discriminatory legislation, fewer mentors, and capricious access to the educational foundation necessary to enter scientific careers. In examining the data, however, the analysis provides support to the contrary; women scientists actually have adapted in highly advantageous ways in less developed nations based upon measures capturing presence in the workplace, mentoring relationships, the potential for network collaborations, and resource expectations. The author extends social Darwinism paradigms to explain the unexpected phenomenon through her Evolutionary Adaptation Model, and recommends that feminine patterns of scientific contributions in the Third World be explored in greater detail in order to identify adaptation patterns and institutional conditions that strengthen the potential contributions of female scientists at all levels of economic development.