Protests Erupt At US University After Professor Says Women Should Not Be Recruited As Doctors Or Engineers

A professor at the Boise State University in Idaho, USA, has caused outrage with his discreditable statement - saying women should be kept out of professions like engineering, medicine and law.

Political science professor Scott Yenor sparked controversy while speaking at the National Conservatism Conference in Orlando, Florida. He was delivering a speech titled ¡®The Family Form that Nations Need¡¯, when he made disparaging remarks about women and spoke critically of feminism, CNN reported.

Twitter/@theidaho97

During the speech, Yenor said: ¡°Every effort made must be made not to recruit women into engineering, but rather to recruit and demand more of men who become engineers. Ditto for med school, and the law, and every trade.¡±

As Yenor's speech prompted social media backlash, he doubled down on his statements. In a post on Twitter, he said that "making special efforts to recruit women into fields where they don't seem to want to be" are not worthwhile. He claimed that he did not want to prevent women from entering those careers.

So when I argue to stop making special efforts to recruit women into fields where they don¡¯t seem to want to be, I am accused of keeping women out of these professions--and (insanely) wanting to deny them an education altogether.

¡ª Scott Yenor (@scottyenor) December 3, 2021

The state college issued a statement saying that while it did not agree with Mr Yenor's comments, it "cannot infringe" on his ability to express his views.

¡°Boise State University understands that the open exchange of ideas, which is fundamental to education, can introduce uncomfortable and even offensive ideas,¡± the statement said. ¡°However, the university cannot infringe upon the First Amendment rights of anyone in our community, regardless of whether we, as individual leaders, agree or disagree with the message. No single faculty member defines what Boise State ¡ª or any public university ¡ª endorses or stands for.¡±

Meanwhile, hundreds of men and women took part in the protest against Yenor¡¯s comments on Saturday, December 4.

#MeddlesomeWomen a thread. .@BoiseBrooke and .@Walton_Emily did something big with all of you! Thank you for coming out and supporting women at #BSU and in all of Idaho! #idpol pic.twitter.com/jFlWGPWnXw

¡ª theidaho97 (@theidaho97) December 4, 2021

Talking about the controversy, Idaho State Representative Brooke Green, who helped organise the event, stressed that Yenor¡¯s beliefs are ¡®not only outdated but completely sexist and reflect a society that no longer exists¡¯.

The university also acknowledged that women have ¡®made significant and meaningful contributions to all areas of academia, industry, and society¡¯, and said it supports ¡®all women in our community¡¯.

As well as causing the protests, Yenor¡¯s comments prompted social media users to brand him as ¡®misogynistic¡¯.

Boise State is the largest university in Idaho with nearly 20,000 students.

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