Sex and Gender in the Sciences (HPSC20023)

The science of sex and gender has always been contested and controversial. And, running through the empirical debates, are two competing concerns. One is that science continues its ugly tradition of embedding cultural biases and stereotypes of females and sexual and gender minorities into its theories, hypotheses, methods and interpretations. But an opposing concern is that the progressive politics of some scientists, academics and activists are undermining the integrity of science, by rejecting particular findings, theories or scientists because they find them politically unpalatable, rather than on intellectual grounds.

This subject explores contemporary debates – such as whether there are ‘male brains’ and ‘female brains’, and the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sport – through the lens of history and philosophy of science, tackling issues such as:

• How cultural assumptions about sex and gender influence scientific questions, methods, analysis and interpretation
• Appropriate and inappropriate roles for political values in science
• The nature of scientific objectivity
• Tensions between academic freedom and diversity and inclusion