Female Scientist Reignites “Battle of the Sexes” with a Parking Test
Female Scientist Reignites “Battle of the Sexes” with a Parking Test
Female scientist, Dr. Claudia Wolf, has helped to confirm male chauvinist remarks about “women drivers” by giving them parking tests. The study, conducted at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany found that women, on average, took 20 second longer to park a car than did their male counterparts.
For this study, the researchers enlisted 65 men and women of comparable age and intelligence to test park an Audi A6 limousine in a 15 by 6 foot space. They were asked to park in three different conditions—parallel parking, head-on, and reverse—and timed from the first movement of the car until the engine was shut off after the park. The accuracy of the car’s position within the bay was then measured.
The study proved that men were faster at parking—for all three conditions—than were the women. Moreover, the women’s longer parking times did not make them more accurate, as they still tended to park uncomfortably close to the curb.
Although the participants varied in driving experience, these results prove than men have better spatial awareness and coordination than do women, said the researchers. Dr. Wolf, however, hastens to add that these results are in no way commentary on general male superiority over women. Rather, this study pitted men against women in only one area—parking a car.