Who-Stole-Feminism.-How-Women-Have-Betrayed-Women

176 WHO STOLE FEMINISM?the invisible elements of the universe.' Consider that an alarm bell. Thisreport needs a full vertical analysis." 57Colleges use both the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the high schoolrecords in selecting students for admission. On average, girls have bettergrades but do slightly worse on the SAT. The mean math scores in 1992were 499 for boys, and 456 for girls; in English, 428 for boys, and 419for girls. 58The SAT is supposed to predict how well a student will do incollege; however, once they get to college, it is the girls who get the bettergrades.Ever on the alert for how schools are "shortchanging" girls, the WellesleyReport takes these facts as clear evidence that the SAT is biased infavor of boys. It is possible that the test score differentials are indicativeof bias and that the test should be altered to minimize or eliminate suchbias. But we cannot accept that conclusion without better (and moreimpartial) research. Scores by themselves do not necessarily show bias.There are many other factors to consider.More girls than boys take the SAT (girls, 52 percent; boys, 48 percent);moreover, according to the 1992 College Board Profile of the SAT TestTakers, more females from "at risk" categories take the test than males.Specifically, more girls from lower-income homes or with parents whonever attended college are likely to attempt the SAT exam than are boysfrom the same background. "These characteristics are associated withlower than average SAT scores," says the College Board. 59Men and women take different kinds of courses in college; more malesenroll in math and science, more females in the humanities. The adventof radical grade inflation in the humanities, and comparatively little inthe sciences, might explain why, despite lower SAT scores, women studentsnet higher grade point averages. The Wellesley researchers wereaware of this possibility, but they insist that even when course difficultyis taken into account, the SAT test still turns out to be biased against girls:The underprediction of women's college grades does not result fromwomen taking easier courses. In math courses at all levels, grades offemales and males are very similar, but male SAT-Math scores arehigher than female scores. Even when grades are weighted to allowfor differences in the difficulty of first-year courses taken by womenand men, the underprediction of women's grades is reduced but noteliminated. 60If that were right, we would certainly be inclined to say that the test isskewed in favor of the boys. On this point the report claims support from