As someone who has worked as a computer programmer for 20 years and took
several Calculus classes, I would like to vouch for the fact that in
order to have a successful career in computer programming, it is
necessary to have at least 4 years of math education - in elementary school.
I find it strange that biology, which is actually a fairly math
intensive field, requires virtually no mathematics in college, while
computer science requires absurd levels of math that have no relevance
to the field. And yet classes that are extremely relevant, like How to
Use UNIX, are optional. I think it has far more to do with the academic
computer science culture than what is actually useful to teach people.
On a related note, I noticed recently that the English Wikipedia only
has 2 paragraphs about women in mathematics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematician#Women_in_mathematics. Compare
with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_science or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_engineering (which was recently
expanded).
Ryan Kaldari
On 4/3/12 7:31 AM, Sarah Stierch wrote:
Nice article, thanks for sharing Lennart!
"She was consistently told by teachers in adolescence
<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/specialtopic/puberty-and-adolescence/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier>,
then later by colleagues, that the things she was interested in were
things women didn't do, and that there were no good female
mathematicians," Dr. Pippenger said.
It's reasoning like this, and the one that you quoted below about
stereotypes, kept me from pursuing a degree in computer science. I
remember looking into the school when I was a young undergrad and I
felt so intimidated, and then was told that I'd have to take certain
math classes. Which frustrated me, as I could do basic language coding
and write html off the top of my head. I flunked the math classes I
had to take, and 10 years later found out I had a math disability.
(And it wasn't my parents who were telling me not to do it, it was
professors, etc. Regardless of my poor math skills, almost every
single person I know who codes jokes that "you don't /need/ to know
math." Someday I'll take some classes in something (just for fun, I
suppose)..or perhaps there will be a "N00bs super simple MediaWiki fun
day that even your grandma could learn to code at!" event.
I'm not disappointed with how my path curved and turned thus far, but,
after reading /Unlocking the Clubhouse/[1] and every time I read an
article like this, it just reminds me more and more of the experiences
I had as a young person that kept me out of the lab. The odd thing, is
that I ended up entering into a field that is upwards of 80% dominated
by women. I wonder of computer science can take any cues from museum
studies.
On that note, I'm sure I'm not the only person on this mailing list
that took a different path than the one they wanted due to popular and
personal pressure.
Sarah
[1]http://www.amazon.com/Unlocking-Clubhouse-Computing-Jane-Margolis/dp/0262133989
On 4/3/12 3:36 AM, Lennart Guldbrandsson wrote:
Hello,
Via Mike Godwin:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/giving-women-the-access-code.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
<snip>
"Most of the female students were unwilling to go on in computer
science because of the stereotypes they had grown up with," said
Zachary Dodds, a computer scientist at Mudd. "We realized we were
helping perpetuate that by teaching such a standard course."
To reduce the intimidation factor, the course was divided into two
sections --- "gold," for those with no prior experience, and "black"
for everyone else. Java, a notoriously opaque programming language,
was replaced by a more accessible language called Python. And the
focus of the course changed to computational approaches to solving
problems across science.
"We realized that we needed to show students computer science is not
all about programming," said Ran Libeskind-Hadas, chairman of the
department. "It has intellectual depth and connections to other
disciplines."
</snip>
Most of the article is about Dr Maria Klawe, who seems to be a very
inspiring person.
Best wishes,
Lennart
Lennart Guldbrandsson,
Tfn: 031 - 12 50 48 Mobil: 070 - 207 80 05
Epost: l_guldbrands...@hotmail.com / lenn...@wikimedia.se
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