Tim Hunt thinks mixed-gender labs are a bad idea.
Tim Hunt, a British Nobel Prize-winning scientist is eating his chauvinistic words after comments he
made a conference of science journalists in South Korea:
A Nobel Prize-winning British scientist apologized Wednesday for saying the ‘‘trouble with girls’’ working in laboratories is that it leads to romantic entanglements and harms science.
But Tim Hunt stood by his assertion that mixed-gender labs are ‘‘disruptive.’’
His comments were
ridiculously offensive:
Sir Tim, 72, who was awarded the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine in 2001 for his work on how cells divide, reportedly told the World Conference of Science Journalists: "Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab: you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticise them they cry."
Connie St. Louis was in the crowd and tweeted
his comments, which have seen gained worldwide attention:
He's sorry, but
he still thinks both sexes can't work in a lab together:
"I did mean the part about having trouble with girls," he said. "It is true that people - I have fallen in love with people in the lab and people in the lab have fallen in love with me and it's very disruptive to the science because it's terribly important that in a lab people are on a level playing field.
"I found that these emotional entanglements made life very difficult.
"I'm really, really sorry I caused any offence, that's awful. I certainly didn't mean that. I just meant to be honest, actually."
Maybe he should run an experiment to see if it's true men and women can't work in labs together. The alternative would be it's just him and his own chauvinistic attitude that is hard to work with, not the women he's partnered with in the lab.
Thu Jun 11, 2015 at 9:14 AM PT: BBC News is reporting, he's resigned his university position:
University College London (UCL) said Sir Tim Hunt - a Royal Society fellow - had resigned from his position within its faculty of life sciences.
From the UCL statement:
"UCL was the first university in England to admit women students on equal terms to men, and the university believes that this outcome is compatible with our commitment to gender equality."