The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7415 p258
26 August 2006

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A role for gender in academic medicine more
Straight from the horse's mouth: how equine emotions are expressed more
Better system of classification required for harmful and illegal drugs more

A role for gender in academic medicine

There have long been arguments over the relative aptitude of men and women to take a leading role in human societies, and over the need to discover whether gender should automatically disqualify any individual from being a leading or guiding factor in the competition for social advancement.

From the distant past there has been a traditional assessment of the roles of men and women in the day-to-day activities of a tribe. Hunters (almost invariably men) and gatherers (mainly women) co-operated in the pursuit of the necessities of life. Presumably there were only rarely arguments over who did what and when. The pursuit of these essential activities was decided by habit and tradition.

In our modern world such respective functions can no longer be taken for granted. If someone is mentally and physically able to accept a responsibility for a specialised activity, gender does not enter into the question.

Yet there are still areas where distinctions are drawn without justification. In the 13 July issue of Nature is a discussion of the suggestion that in general women are not promoted in science to the same degree as men because of innate inability to use certain intellectual functions. Last year the president of Harvard University earned some notoriety by suggesting that differences in innate aptitude rather than social discrimination were more likely to explain the failure of women to advance in scientific careers to the same degree as men. Other US commentators have urged that, in general, men are predisposed to think and act systematically without regard for others, whereas women tend to empathise and consider others. Male competitors are by nature more aggressive when it comes to surviving in science.

A group of women academicians comment in the 20 July issue of New England Journal of Medicine that in 1960 only some 5 per cent of medical students in the US were women but that today about half are women. Nevertheless, women who enter academic medicine are less likely than men to be promoted or chosen for leading posts. In 2005 only 15 per cent of full professors and 11 per cent of departmental holders of chairs were women.

Authorship of articles in prominent medical journals has shown a marked difference also. Female faculty members are less likely to have laboratory space and grants and have lower salaries than those of men with similar experience and academic rank. Expected working hours militate against the caring family role that is often thrust upon women.

Initiatives to support and promote women in academia should, the commentators think, be encouraged and extended. Career paths should be more flexible and success less narrowly defined. Criteria for promotion in many medical schools require academic productivity that is unattainable without devoting most waking hours to career activities. This leaves little room for family and other priorities.

In future, as women make up an increasing proportion of the pool of physicians and men undertake more responsibility for child rearing, the problem may intensify. Meanwhile, the future of academic medicine will depend upon the ability to attract and retain talented young men and women by offering brighter opportunities for a successful and satisfying career.

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Straight from the horse's mouth: how equine emotions are expressed

An interesting comment regarding communication between animals appears in the 16 June issue of Science.

An acoustician at the University of Rhode Island has noted that, while the moo of a cow has a simple acoustic spectrum, in contrast, the equine family — the horses, donkeys and zebras — uses a broader band of expressions with a more variable range of frequencies in communicating.

An acoustic analysis carried out at the University of Connecticut has identified two major components of the horse’s whinny. One, involving a rise in frequency of the note, accompanies a heightened emotional state when, for instance, a stallion chases a mare. The other component is a tremolo effect, which horses use to express a greeting to others. The frequency of the whinny may also change under the influence of hunger or other stressful situations.

In making their report to the Acoustical Society of America recently, the investigators offered the suggestion that by monitoring the quality of the horse’s whinny they might be able to make an earlier diagnosis of the nature and cause of stress in the animal.

Critics are in agreement that, although stress levels might be simply assessed quantitatively by measuring pitch and tremor, there might be other applications in studying donkey and zebra species, and how they express their emotions.

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Better system of classification required for harmful and illegal drugs

The allocation of illegal drugs into classes A, B and C according to vague criteria involves inconsistencies that worry those who know far more about drugs and their problems than the committees that draw up lists arbitrarily.

A report in the 5 August issue of the BMJ notes that a select committee of the House of Commons has just published a paper revealing glaring inconsistencies in the system, with a comment that it is not fit for the purpose. The classification was based on a United Nations convention and the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and although it refers to “harm” associated with drugs it offers no definition of this term. Considerable confusion over cannabis resulted in its reclassification in 2004 from class B to class C. In 2005 the mushroom Psilocybe semilanceata changed its status to class A. The classification of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (“ecstasy”) has been controversial for some time. In 2002 recommendations that it be reclassified from class A to class B were rejected by the government. In 2005 methamphetamine was given a disputed status and finally moved to class A.

One important function of classification of illegal drugs is to deter misusers by linking possible harm with legal penalties, but there is no evidence that any such effect occurs in practice. It has been recommended that classification on basis of harm should cease to be linked with penalties for possession of and trafficking in illegal drugs.

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