Tangentially related story: http://raganwald.posterous.com/a-womans-story
Tom On 3 April 2012 15:34, Lennart Guldbrandsson <l_guldbrands...@hotmail.com>wrote: > Yes, a course for very, very unexperienced programers would be great. > > And just to continue on that thread about pursuing your passion, I trust > you have seen Sir Ken Robinson talk at TED? > > http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html > > > > Med vänliga hälsningar, > > > Lennart > > > Lennart Guldbrandsson, > Tfn: 031 - 12 50 48 Mobil: 070 - 207 80 05 > Epost: l_guldbrands...@hotmail.com / lenn...@wikimedia.se > Användarsida: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anv%C3%A4ndare:Hannibal > Blogg: http://mrchapel.wordpress.com/ > Wikimedia Sverige http://wikimedia.se > http://www.1av3.se > > > ------------------------------ > Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2012 10:31:43 -0400 > From: sarah.stie...@gmail.com > To: gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org > Subject: Re: [Gendergap] Giving Women the Access Code > > > 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 > Användarsida: > http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anv%C3%A4ndare:Hannibal<http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anv%C3%A4ndare%3aHannibal> > Blogg: http://mrchapel.wordpress.com/ > Wikimedia Sverige http://wikimedia.se > http://www.1av3.se > > > _______________________________________________ > Gendergap mailing > listGendergap@lists.wikimedia.orghttps://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap > > > > -- > *Sarah Stierch* > *Wikimedia Foundation Community Fellow* > >>Support the sharing of free knowledge around the world: donate > >>today<https://donate.wikimedia.org/> > << > > _______________________________________________ Gendergap mailing list > Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap > > _______________________________________________ > Gendergap mailing list > Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap > >
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