As populations migrate and disperse, we find that the part of the population which moves to a new location is almost never a representative sample of the entire parent population. Instead, we find that only certain parts of the parent population are represented in the daughter population. Over time, those differences become accentuated until the new population becomes markedly different from the original.
We are most familiar with it in biology, but it also holds true in human populations. When a group of humans leaves their homeland, the people in the migrant group represents only a subset of the original population, and are often self-selected for certain temperaments and interests as well as skill-sets.
For instance, the English settlers of the eastern seaboard of the North American continent shared a number of characteristics that were not so widely distributed among those who remained in England. These characteristics, particularly a tendency toward contrarian views and attitudes (many of them had been religious dissidents in a time and place in which religious conformity was considered a sign of political loyalty), almost certainly contributed to their growing conflict with the Crown in the years following the French and Indian War, which ultimately led to the Revolutionary War and the formation of a new nation that rejected monarchy and kingship as foundational principles of governance and founded a Republic that would spread across a continent and establish the first footholds on other worlds.
Another example of this phenomenon is developing in humanity’s expansion into the larger Solar System. In societies in which women were able to enter any occupation they were physically capable of, rather than being confined to the traditionally feminine occupations, they have typically been a small number of the total members of those occupations. Although this disparity has often been regarded as the result of women being made unwelcome in traditionally masculine professions, self-selection appears to be a significant factor. Far fewer women either have or are willing to develop the single-minded dedication to operate at a professional level in the most demanding fields, particularly if it is incompatible with the needs of childrearing.
However, given that most of the women who entered the astronaut corps and who made up the populations of the early settlements are self-selected from that portion of the female population who do have that single-minded dedication to their professions. Although some have carved out time for having a family, particularly as artificial uterine environments are becoming increasingly available, these women generally have fewer children that women following paths that give them greater flexibility in relation to family obligation.
As lunar and Martian settlements are growing larger and more robust, we are seeing women from a wider variety of backgrounds joining the permanent population of these communities, particularly now that dependents without specialized training can accompany scientific and technical support crew. However, they do not represent the same proportion of the population as we find on Earth, even in cultures that strongly encourage women to pursue non-domestic careers.
In a society with only natural reproduction, it would be probable that over time natural selection would tilt the balance back toward women who prioritize the domestic life, simply because they will have more children than women who put their careers first and give family a carve-out. However, the development of the artificial uterine environment by the former Soviet Union as part of their Cold War cloning and human genetic modification program has irrevocably altered that dynamic. Particularly as nanotechnology becomes ever more sophisticated and reduces the risk involved in the collection of viable ova for in vitro fertilization and gestation, women have more options, and can reduce the trade-off between career and reproduction, which will have effects on the psychological makeup of future generations.
—- Martha Long-Caudell, “Women, the Workplace, and the High Frontier” in Population Genetics and Space Settlement. Carpenter Point: Kennedy University Press, 2028.