Nice article.
The original article in Psychological Science [Neil Charness and Yigal Gerchak, Psychological Science, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Jan., 1996), pp. 46-51] points out that, after one accounts for participation rates, one cannot reject the hypothesis that male and female chess ratings (at least at the higher ratings studied) come from the SAME population distribution of chess performance. Their findings represent an interesting scientific approach to dispelling the supposed myth engendered in period assertions in Live Chess that "women can't play chess."
Interesting article on NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129214019