n rf wrote: > > > > > A lot of them aren't guys. They are women. In a lot of > > countries (certainly not all but a lot) there's way less > > prejudice against women being in high-tech. Of more > importance, > > there aren't assumptions made in primary (elementary) and > > secondary (high school) that girls are "bad at math." Instead, > > girls are encouraged, with an understanding that they tend to > > be better at many aspects of math. > > I was using the term 'guys' in the neuter sense of the word. :-> > > > > > > Why don't you get involved in your local high school? > Encourage > > more girls (and boys) to go into computer science. One major > > aspect of the problem that you describe is that fewer and > fewer > > Amserican students are studying engineering and computer > science. > > First off, I am heavily involved in my local schools.
Good. Our schools need folks like you! > > Second, I think the real issue is, quite frankly, the lack of > incentives. When was the last time you saw an engineer or a > computer guy depicted as "cool" on TV or in the movies? In our day, astronauts were cool. Too bad that's not true anymore. > Little > boys don't grow up dreaming of becoming engineers, they grow up > dreaming up becoming the next Eminem or the next Kobe Bryant. Little boys always dreamed of being sports stars, I think. I don't think there's anything new there. > Hey, why work hard in school to learn your math and science > when if you can shoot hoops really well, you might get a $75 > million shoe contract while you're only 18 years old (and just > for endorsing shoes, I'm not even talking about getting paid > for actually playing basketball), just like LeBron James? Same > is true for little girls - again, what's the point of school > when you could become the next Britney or the next Christina > Aguilera? Put another way, kids make the calculation that they > could either work hard through high school and college and get > a steady middle-class income or they could take the shot of > becoming a multimillionaire while they're still young. Is it > surprising that many of them are lured by the siren song of the > cool glamour and instant riches? > > Even those kids who are wiser and more realistically > goal-oriented still do not choose CS or engineering for > eminently defensible reasons. I remember back to my graduating > college class - how many of the hungriest and most dynamic > people chose engineering or CS? Not that many. The majority > chose to enter fields like law, investment banking, sales, > stockbroking, etc. Let's face it, CS and engineering are hard > work. A lot of people think to themselves - why study my butt > off to become an engineer when I can make double the salary by > working on Wall Street? > > What I'm saying is that I can understand why American kids > don't like CS or engineering. Simply put - it's not "cool" and > they think they can get more bang for the buck by going into > other fields. I believe that the US does not reward its > engineers or CS guys sufficiently, relative to the amount of > hard work it takes, instead choosing to reward its pop-culture > icons and its salesmen/bankers/lawyers, The word is salespeople. Most of the best ones are women. :-) Gender-neutral language does actually help. Some of the changes in our language to ensure political correctness are ridiculous, of course, but a lot of the changes really are helpful for people who were barred from the fun jobs for so many years. I encourage you to change your language, especially if you have daughters. OK, that's enough now. :-) Priscilla > and therefore is it any > wonder that American kids don't really want to be the former > and instead want to be the latter? > > > > > Part of the problem is the prejudice against females. A bigger > > problem is that our schools suck. The government spends our > > money attacking other cultures instead of developing our own. > > > I believe that while there may have been prejudice against > girls in math/science in the past, I don't know if this > continues to happen. Or if there still is, then girls are > successfully defeating it, just like Asian-Americans and Jews > continue to fight (and fight successfully) endemic prejudice > within higher-education admissions rounds. This obviously does > not condone prejudice of any kind (why can't people be judged > fairly, and whoever wins wins?), but the fact of the matter is > that when compared at the same age, girls tend to be far more > mature than boys, and as a result, girls are beginning to > dominate schools academically. Consider this report from 60 > Minutes: > > "...it's the boys who could use a little help in school, where > they're falling behind their female counterparts. > > And if you think it's just boys from the inner cities, think > again. It's happening in all segments of society, in all 50 > states. That's why more and more educators are calling for a > new national effort to put boys on an equal footing with their > sisters. Lesley Stahl reports. > > At graduation ceremonies last June at Hanover High School in > Massachusetts, it was the ninth year in a row that a girl was > on the podium as school valedictorian. Girls also took home > nearly all the honors, including the science prize, says > principal Peter Badalament. > > �[Girls] tend to dominate the landscape academically right > now,� he says, even in math and science. > > The school's advanced placement classes, which admit only the > most qualified students, are often 70 percent to 80 percent > girls. This includes calculus. And in AP biology, there was not > a single boy. > > According to Badalment, three out of four of the class > leadership positions, including the class presidents, are > girls. In the National Honor Society, almost all of the > officers are girls. The yearbook editor is a girl. > > While there are statistically more boy geniuses than girl > geniuses, far more boys than girls are found at the very bottom > of the academic ranks. School districts from Massachusetts to > Minnesota to California report that boys are withdrawing from > the life of schools, and girls are taking over. > > �Girls outperform boys in elementary school, middle school, > high school, and college, and graduate school,� says Dr. > Michael Thompson, a school psychologist who writes about the > academic problems of boys in his book, "Raising Cain." He says > that after decades of special attention, girls are soaring, > while boys are stagnating. > > ...The picture doesn't get much brighter for young men when > they get to college. Campuses are now nearly 60 percent female, > with women earning 170,000 more bachelor degrees each year than > men. Women are streaming into business schools and medical > schools, and will be the majority at the nation's law schools. > At some colleges, they're getting so many more qualified women > applicants than men applicants that the schools are doing > something that might shock you. > > �To make a class that's 50/50, they're practicing affirmative > action on behalf of boys,� says Thompson. �Girls are so > outperforming boys in school right now, " > > http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/31/60minutes/main527678.shtml > > > The same trend seems to exist elsewhere. For example, in > Australia: > > "At the senior secondary level in Australia, the average girl > is currently outperforming the average boy..." > > http://education.qld.gov.au/students/advocacy/equity/gender-sch/trouble/part-final.html > > Canada: > > "Boys account for almost two-thirds of elementary-school > students receiving special education and are far more prone > than girls to behavioural problems, Statistics Canada reported > yesterday. > > Provincial education ministers recently flagged the > underperformance of boys as a problem in Canadian schools. This > most recent study contributes more cause for concern." > > http://fact.on.ca/news/news0003/gm000308.htm > > The UK: > > "It has long been known in academic circles that girls often > outperform boys at school. In the past, girls always needed a > higher mark than boys in the 11+ to get into Grammar School and > nowadays (according to Geoff Hannan - an expert in the field) - > the average boy is 11 months behind the average girl in oracy, > 12 months behind in literacy and 6 months behind in numeracy > when they start secondary school. By the KS3 Tests, girls are > frequemtly over a year ahead in English. Ten per cent more > girls consistently score the higher GCSE grades (A* to C) than > boys..." > http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/article_secondary_09092002.shtml > > > "Over the past generation in Britain, the academic performance > of girls has changed dramatically; from a situation, 25 - 30 > years ago, where boys outperformed girls in most subjects to > one in which girls outperform boys in virtually every examined > subject at all levels of the education system." > > http://www.sociology.org.uk/tece1ea2.htm > > "This imbalance in achievement, apparent for years at > primary-school and GCSE level, now seems to have worked its way > into higher education as well. The ratio of female students to > males in British universities is fast approaching three to two." > > http://arlindo_correia.tripod.com/061001.html > > Hong Kong: > > "...Girls in Hong Kong outperform boys in many areas of the > curriculum and are already winning a majority of university > places." > > http://www.icponline.org/world_ed_news/w_ed4_01.htm > > The EU: > > "Throughout Europe - in primary schools, through secondary > education and right into the universities - girls are > outperforming boys. In the European Union, 20 per cent more > women are graduating than men. On leaving school and > university, women's prospects of employment exceed men's. In > Germany, for example, between 1991 and 1995 twice as many men > as women lost their jobs. Women actually gained 210,000 jobs > while men lost 400,000..." > > http://books.guardian.co.uk/firstchapters/story/0,6761,373196,00.html > > > > The fact that this outperformance has been reported not just in > one country but throughout the world leads me to conclude that > girls either are more mature, harder working, or dare I say it, > simply smarter than boys (at the same age). Whatever happens > to be the case, I say, good for them - if girls prove > themselves to be more competent, then they deserve to dominate. > > > > > > > > > Priscilla > > > > > All you have to > > > do is go > > > any American high school and remark on just how lazy and > > > unmotivated the > > > kids are today. In this new global economy, service-oriented > > > work is > > > going to go to wherever the sharpest, cheapest, and > > > hardest-working > > > minds of the world happen to be. That's the way free-market > > > capitalism > > > works. > > > > > > > > > > > > Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=70945&t=70915 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
