Nobel Laureate In Hot Water For 'Trouble With Girls' In Labs

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Last edited Wed Jun 10, 2015, 04:27 PM - Edit history (1)

Gosh, and people wonder why women aren't flocking to STEM careers...

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/10/413429407/nobel-laureate-in-hot-water-for-trouble-with-girls-in-labs

In 2001, Tim Hunt won a share of a Nobel Prize. In 2006, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. But in 2015, he's being widely criticized for his recent remarks about women in science, including: "when you criticize them, they cry."

Hunt, a biochemist, made that and other comments during a speech this week at the World Conference of Science Journalists that's being held in South Korea this week. He was quoted in a tweet that's since been shared hundreds of times, asking the audience to "let me tell you about my trouble with girls."

"Three things happen when they are in the lab," Hunt said, according to conference attendee Connie St. Louis, who is both a scientist and journalist. "You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticize them, they cry."

Hunt, 72, went on to say that he doesn't want to get in the way of women in science — but that he favors the idea of single-sex labs. The scientist confirmed today that his words had been accurately reported, and he apologized for offending people, even as he insisted that the presence of women in labs is "disruptive."

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