Girls and tech
Misbehaving passes on a report about girls and careers in technology:
Jacquelynne Eccles, a University of Michigan psychologist, says that girls steer away from careers in math, science and engineering because they view them as solitary pursuits: "In order to increase the number of women in science, we also need to make young women more interested in these fields, and that means making them aware that science is a social endeavor that involves working with and helping people."
The bigger question is why they view those fields that way. In this regard, I don't think pop culture helps a lot. Take almost any tv show or movie that portrays software developers - how common is the unwashed, unkempt, thick black glasses look? I see this with my daughter - her mom and I are both in software, and her perceptions of developers are more colored by pop culture portrayals than by her own home.
Comments
[XCheck] May 2, 2005 16:57:07.724
Jim,
pop culture may not be helping, but the question is how much of it reflects the sad reality. My wife is a scientist and had been in software for a number of years before quitting the field. The reason? The propeller head's idea of social life is twisted. She had been repeatedly ridiculed for her attire (she chooses to dress like a woman), her social and philosophical views, her disinterest in technology for technology's sake, her liking of opera, ballet, and other classical art forms.
Sometimes I wonder what I am doing in this field... the difference is that as a guy, I am better trained to put on a straight face and pretend it doesn't bother me. I guess that makes me a solitary soul, too.