There are always exceptions.
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 ...
Amen. Could also be that CS is mind-numbingly boring and unsatisfying as hell. I endured life as a software engineer for 20 years and recently got laid off in a very typical maneuver by my high-tech employer, who is farming more and more work to India and China.
I'm actually glad to be out of there. Dreadful, utterly meaningless work and a miserable corporate environment. Good riddance.
It is pretty bad. That's why I liked it.
There are always exceptions.
My SIL teaches aerodynamics at a well-known university, and has spent her entire professional life in a mostly male environment full of “geeks.” But she is unusual — first, she has a naturally aggressive personality, so I don’t think anyone or anything has ever intimidated her! :) More important, her dad was an engineer and encouraged her strongly to become one too. If more dads encouraged their daughters in the sciences, we’d see more women in the sciences. But most dads don’t do that.
Geeks drive pretty girls to the airport at 3:00am on freezing rainy nights while the girls’ boyfriends are at home, asleep.
A certain redundancy there. Let's hope that changes.
There must be something wrong with my paycheck then...
I don’t doubt that the geek atmosphere is a turnoff for some women. Should PC social engineers step in to fix this? Yea, as soon as they drive the dominant gay culture out of the drama department, the over-achiever culture out of biological sciences, the jock atmosphere out of the PhysEd, etc., etc. One thing you gotta say about these Computer Science geeks...they can write code! Maybe that is something not to mess with for the sake of diversity.
More coffee is the ticket!
More coffee to dump on the keyboards!!
LMAO!!!!!!
“Hey, I’m a man of substance. Geeky chicks turn me on, too.”
I met Admiral Hooper in 83... she was a grand old lady.... god rest her soul.
Bingo.
You forgot the smug expression and condescending attitude.
The women hate having to flirt with the geeks in order to get them to do their programs for them. I am not kidding here. The pretty girls always find guys to write their programs—the ugly ones HAVE to be good coders.
And I used to know an IT UNIX guy that looked and acted, just like that.
In mid 1979 I bought my first TRS-80 computer ... It was a rom patch that ... also brought on new features like the First Lowercase capability on a home computer.
'79-ish TRS-80 would have also required an extra RAM and a bit of wiring; RS skimped and left out a bit.
I still have my technical manual where I've penciled the circuit into the schematics. Never managed to get it done, though; the RS in Roosevelt, UT in the early '80s sucked something awful. 'Sides which, it wasn't even my TRS-80 to begin with...
It did require extra RAM, about an extra 4k of Static Ram if I remember right. The video ram was in sockets and you pulled out the old ram and installed our new ram which was 2 ram chips piggybacked with an extra Chip Select line coming off the top stack which had to be connected to a tiny bit of extra chip select logic. We managed to create a kit that worked well for people. We also had a service where you could send in your TRS unit and we would upgrade it for you :)
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