Professor takes on gender differences

The Sisters Science Club will host a discussion on "Male/Female Sports Performance Differences," presented by Professor John Liccardo on Thursday, February 14. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for food and refreshments, and the lecture begins at 7 p.m.

In the world of nature, "strength" can mean the difference between survival and extinction. Among the raptors, for example, females are larger and stronger than males, a factor that leads to better survival of the species. The female -who has a larger mass - must spend more time at the nest protecting and keeping the young warm while males are out gathering food. Then, as the young grow, more food is in demand, and females can kill and bring in larger prey more often.

Just recently, one member of the SSC was overheard to say, "My wife's tongue is a lot stronger than mine; she wins every argument we have..."

And with that comment, come and meet Professor John Liccardo, a faculty member in Exercise Science at Central Oregon Community College. He will present a lecture about the science and culture behind gender differences in sports performance" as part of the ongoing "Frontier's in Science" at The Belfry, on Valentine's Day.

Professor Liccardo has a master's degree in exercise physiology from the University of Utah and has studied and taught about the physiology of high performance as a professor of exercise physiology and health science since 2000. He is also an experienced marathon runner, former NCAA Division I track athlete, and devoted follower of men's and women's high-level endurance sports.

Professor Liccardo states, "Female performance in endurance sports is typically about 10 percent slower versus their male counterparts at the highest level. Some believe that women are limited biologically while others argue that this is just the result of centuries of institutionalized discrimination.

"It has been argued that women should, biologically, be capable of equal performance (or even higher) than men, but they are held back by outdated views, systematic discrimination, and bad science. Others scoff at that argument pointing to biological differences as being able to fully explain this performance difference and go further to claim that women will never perform at the level of men. Are men simply better than women? Or are men simply better at reducing women's opportunity to compete?"