As Sheriff Bart famously asked in Blazing Saddles: "Hey, where are the white women at?"
Posted on 12/15/2009 2:39:33 PM PST by decimon
The stereotype of computer scientists as geeks who memorize Star Trek lines and never leave the lab may be driving women away from the field, a new study suggests.
And women can be turned off by just the physical environment, say, of a computer-science classroom or office that's strewn with objects considered "masculine geeky," such as video games and science-fiction stuff.
"When people think of computer science, the image that immediately pops into many of their minds is of the computer geek surrounded by such things as computer games, science-fiction memorabilia and junk food," said lead researcher Sapna Cheryan, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington. "That stereotype doesn't appeal to many women who don't like the portrait of masculinity that it evokes."
The upshot: Women don't feel they would fit in and so steer clear of computer-science majors and jobs, the researchers say. Such avoidance could help to explain why just 22 percent of computer-science graduates are women, a percentage that has been steadily decreasing, according to 2008 data from the National
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Speaking of, can't wait to get my Droid next month.
Btw, if I get the chance, I’m headed back to AZ.
If you have a chance to relocate to AZ, I recommend it. I found the people to be very friendly and decent.
Needless to say, I rent. I just wish I didn't love the city so much. But I'm outta here when I retire!
As Sheriff Bart famously asked in Blazing Saddles: "Hey, where are the white women at?"
Humor ping!
I can tell you I've seen some highly-qualified females. This one is probably smarter in computers and mathematics than most of us combined:
Xiaoyun Wang is the scientist continually finding collisions in hash routines.
And then there's this chick who published her first math paper as an undergrad. Never mind, I shouldn't post the picture I want to here. Just google up actress Danica McKellar. Straight to this subject, she's written books to try to get girls motivated in math, and even tutors them over the Internet.
That's close. While it's supposed to be barefoot and pregnant, naked is a good first step toward that. :=)
So there you have it, women are bigoted and discrimatory.
Yeah, we need more female influence on, say, the Windows UI. There isn't enough eye candy in there yet. And where did that sweet little paper clip helper go?
*ducking for cover*
A far cry from the early days when I had three hot chicas from Mexico as coders on my team.
Science fiction, computer games and junk food sound great to me to. I tell my horse racing friends there is not much difference in them and my sci-fi friends.
Science fiction, computer games and junk food sound great to me to. I tell my horse racing friends there is not much difference in them and my sci-fi friends.
Sorry, it was an attempt at humor with a geeky star trek line. :)
I have been a research scientist for over 35 years in the field of radio electronics and computer science. The two used together can create some amazing things. Science *is* a calling though.
In mid 1979 I bought my first TRS-80 computer and by early 1980 I had reversed engineeered all of its hardware, buss timing and software, and had created a new device that plugged into the unused ROM socket inside of the unit. It was a rom patch that allowed me to modify the Microsoft Level 2 basic that came in the TRS80 to correct a bunch of problems that it had, and also brought on new features like the First Lowercase capability on a home computer. My startup company then advertized in Byte magazine and the brand new 80-Microcomputing.
To support production demands on constructing these new modules I brought in a couple of guys and a gal. There was never any weird emotional stuff going on with fragile male egos being panicked and or threatened by genius level women telling them what to do. It was about the mission of creating a successful startup company and concentrating on the technology creation and never getting into a bunch of Emo Crap creation.
Well, maybe NOW it doesn't have an effect. Back in the late 70s, affirmative action in the computer industry was alive and well. Coming out of college, I got maybe one or two second interviews and one job offer. Meanwhile, the female students that I was tutoring in programming got 4 and 5 offers.
The tone of this article suggests that we need to add some pink Barbie playsets to the science fiction memorabilia. Are the women on FR as insulted as I am?
“Hey, where are the white women at?”
Not taking the advanced maths in high school or doing algorithms in college would be my guess.
My daughter-in-law is Chinese (and has a Masters in computer science). When she was in the seventh and eighth grade she was already finished with algebra, trig, and geometry and was ready for calculus.
Contrast that with my sons’ curriculum which is standard at most good high schools, 9th algebra, 10th geometry, 11th trig, 12th calculus.
Of course, my son has always been in a hurry and took all those in a couple of years by taking summer school.
I'll take some hormones and get back to you.
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