Introduction - Spatial Encounters

Women, as a consequence of socialization or genetics or both, have difficulty perceiving relationships in and among three-dimensional objects. For example, some women find it difficult to understand a cross-sectional drawing, to drive a car in reverse, or to determine how a mechanical object works by simply looking at it. Many women do not automatically learn, at home or at school, the total concept of space, which includes direction, distance, perspective, movement, and relationships of objects to each other in space. Much of the inability to grasp spatial relationships is a consequence of limited social opportunities to develop such skills-for example, playing games requiring coordination, handling three-dimensional objects such as building materials or toys with movable parts, or enrolling in mechanical drawing courses. Women have consistently shown a sex-differentiated lack of what is called spatial visualization and spatial orientation. Most men acquire these skills and then build on them both in the learning process and on the job.

Spatial visualization and spatial orientation are terms from psychology that describe the ability to judge spatial relationships. Spatial visualization involves the ability to manipulate and rotate mentally two- and three-dimensional objects. Spatial orientation involves the ability to perceive the elements in a pattern, to compare patterns, to grasp changing orientation space, and to determine the position of one's body in space. The spatial skills of visualization and orientation are highly correlated with success in a number of technical and professional occupations that have traditionally been considered male domains.

Spatial ability is a part of the psychology of perception (the process of extracting meaningful information from sensory stimulation) and is intricately involved with learning and thinking. At the present time, instruction based on the skills of spatial visualization or orientation is not learned as well by females as by most males. When information is presented in spatial terms, or when learning requires spatial skills, women often fear, do not understand, or have difficulty with the material.

Numerous research studies in psychology have concluded that males are superior to females in spatial perception, but that this difference can be diminished, if not eliminated, through adequate training. In order to allow freedom of career choice, people of both sexes should have the opportunity to learn the perceptual skills necessary to enter the mathematics, engineering, science, and technical professions.