Hi, I teach perl to people related in one way or another to geophysics. My classes are usulally small 4-8. I have always had at least one woman in each class. I don't keep statistics on just how many. I also teach Introduction to Unix, Intermediate Unix, and several other Unix and scripting type classes. I think the ratios others have described hold here, too. I have a female associate who often teaches the Introduction to Unix class. Her ratios are about what I see as well. I mention this because one might ask if the gender of the instructor had anything to do with it. I am also, in my copius spare time, an adult leader for a Sea Scout Ship. Sea Scouts (in the US) are coed, 14-21. Sea Scout ships range from all boys, all girls, and mixed. I mention this because I see similar mixes in Sea Scouting as I do in computers, and because I see youth in the developmental stages (besides my own children) on a pretty routine basis. I have nothing like the expertise to speak intelligently on this matter, but an idea I have is that computers are pretty harsh taskmasters. I don't know if this is Y chromosome or what, but I see boys tending to be more risk takers than girls. Girls seem more inclined to negotiate, which computers are not good at. Boys are more likely, it seems to me, to try and try again. Why any of this is so, I don't know. When a boy gets "killed" in a game, he will just go back and hit it again. Girls seem not as inclined to do that without some kind of explanation of what happened. I hope that adds something. Will -- The Devil may be in the details, but her license plates say New York. (Attention humor-impaired, this means Hillary Clinton, nothing against New York) ____________________________________________________________________ Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=1
