Long discussion this morning with Sarah about gender difference, following the appointment by Cambridge University's Faculty of English of four young men to four vacant lecturing positions.

Of course these four young men might well have been the four best candidates for ths posts, but with a field evenly split between the sexes there's a thought that same kind of unconscious bias plays a part.

Relatedly, a very interesting debate between Marc D. Hauser and Elizabeth Spelke contains the startling claim that academics, when presented with a vita, will rate it higher if they are told that candidate is male.

The wider question of the debate, on the relative abilities of men and women, was however left in the balance ...

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