

Girls dominate Canada science fair; boys don't show up - sethg
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090515.wlfair15/BNStory/lifeMain/home

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johnnybgoode
This can be a really difficult issue to discuss. I have a theory as to why
this is happening, but I think it would inevitably be misinterpreted as being
sexist (against females).

I'd also guess I'm not the only one thinking along these lines.

Edit: Well, OK, here goes...I am not at all 100% sure of all this, but it
appears females, on average, have more respect for societal measures of
prestige than males do. Now that females are more empowered to do what they
want (which is great) they're chasing after the generally accepted indicators
of prestige of the past and present. School awards, doctors, lawyers, college
degrees in general, and in fact credentials of virtually any type are all
seeing a dramatically increased female presence; in same cases females are
starting to outnumber males entirely. Since credentialism was a mistake to
begin with, as it slowly erodes (both _because of_ males starting to choose
not to go down the path of credential-seeking and thanks to the later results
of that - i.e., as more and more people without credentials do well,
credentials become less important) people are going to notice that females are
"overrepresented" in many areas where credentials are emphasized.
Credentialists[1] (who are usually the ones quoted in the media) will see this
as a problem, when it's really a sign of the decline of credentialism.

This is a trend that will probably take decades to play out. But you can
already see the signs. There was an article in the Chronicle of Higher
Education recently about how going to grad school to study the humanities is a
disastrous choice today, and it is now overwhelmingly women who are making
that choice. That's just one of the more obvious examples.

Who knows, maybe this is a one-time phenomenon that has resulted from female
empowerment, and it won't happen again?

I don't think I did a very good job of explaining myself here, but I'm a
little rushed so I'll try to elaborate on it in the future.

[1] People who tend to believe in or support credentials.

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russell
Go for it. A thoughtful comment is welcome. I dont think it is as simple as
girls trying to please teachers. These kids are putting in far too much effort
for that to be the motivating factor. Or is it that fairs are biased towards
bio rather than physical sciences and math? I wonder how a mathematical proof
would even be evaluated.

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johnnybgoode
oz and russell, I took your advice and updated the original comment. I agree
that it's not as simple as girls trying to please teachers - it goes beyond
that.

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axod
Can "the differences between men and women in tech" be added to the things
that aren't useful to discuss/post?

It's becoming the 'politics' of HN.

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abstractbill
I think it's a somewhat interesting topic, but this article was full of
unfounded speculation, and very light on real content unfortunately.

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axod
Sure. I'd be interested in scientific studies, analysis of male/female brain
differences etc - real data - hard facts. Having said that, I still think it's
a bit of a toxic subject.

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ansostuhmieng
Why would you ask Person A why Person B is not interested in a particular
subject matter? Why not just go ask Person B?

Is there a good reason for this approach that I have missed? It seems to be a
popular approach, but I don see the value in it. Anyone able to enlighten me?

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xenophanes
OH MY GOD the ratio shifted from 55/45 to 44/56. IT'S SO UNEVEN!!

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marcusbooster
'Cause the boys are on the computer.

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abstractbill
Would a computing project not be accepted as a submission in a science fair?

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TriinT
Except that they may be shooting virtual martians with their plasma guns
instead of doing anything "productive" ;-)

