I have to ask, as a girl who refused to be relegated (and paid for it, socially, in the Baby Boom adolescence): is the change in school dominance from boys to girls because: -- girls have gotten so much better? -- because boys have gotten so much worse? -- some of both (and, if so, in what proportions)?
The answer matters, because it tells us: -- we will progress more (because we now have a greater pool of human talent upon which to draw) -- we will struggle to progress at the same rate (female success dominating may have appeared first in sub-societies, like American black culture, where young successful black women lament they can't find any equals with whom to partner who are of their general sub-society), since females continue to carry the larger portion of child-rearing, as well as all the child-bearing -- we may even do worse, depending on where that ratio falls. Frankly, I find those numbers appalling. I hate it when the route to one person's success depends on denying another any chance at it. Annlee ""n rf"" wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > 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. > > 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? Little boys don't grow up dreaming of > becoming engineers, they grow up dreaming up becoming the next Eminem or the > next Kobe Bryant. 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, 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=70983&t=70915 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
