CAPE TOWN, May 6 (Xinhua) -- South African lawmakers on Monday voiced dismay at a study that generalizes colored women as "less intelligent" as a result of their lifestyle choices.
"Cognitive ability and intelligence are not just things you can easily measure or generalize about," Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training said in a statement.
Committee Chairperson Connie September said South African lawmakers were dismayed with findings of academics based at South Africa's University of Stellenbosch, as contained in an article published in the latest Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition journal.
The article, titled: "Age and education-related effects on cognitive functioning in colored South African women," has since been retracted by the publisher, a position its authors agreed to.
The article drew widespread condemnation for concluding that colored women were less intelligent as a result of their lifestyle choices.
September described such generalization as an unwarranted attack on an unsuspecting group of women.
"The article set the work of uniting our nation a few years back, by endorsing such stereotypical observations," said September.
The work of research from the reputable University of Stellenbosch should be to contribute to knowledge and enhance people as human beings, she said.
"The article had elements of laziness, especially that it only surveyed 60 colored women, and should never have been published," said September.
Academics should strive to contribute towards the advancement of society and be sensitive in how they carry out academic research, September said.
