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Charles Pasternak makes several valid points about why it is that students in Asian cultures seem to perform better than their UK and US counterparts in the biosciences.

However, in an article that bemoans the loss of intellectual curiosity, it is ironic that rather than take this as a problem to be investigated, he assumes he knows the answer and blames new universities and their "courses in pig enterprise management". He also uses sexist language (the questing nature of man) and makes ageist assumptions (enthuse our young with the search for knowledge). Since women experience career barriers in the sciences, including indirect discrimination due to age structures that make little allowance for career breaks for childrearing, such statements aren't helpful.

Liz Meerabeau
University of Greenwich