girls and computers, was: Gendered Communication

[Steve Owens <uso01 -at- EAGLE -dot- UNIDATA -dot- COM>]

> LaVonna Funkhouser said:
>> Persons attracted to computer science are often also those attracted to
>> mathematics, and boys usually outnumber girls in those classes, too.

> Karen (karenk -at- netcom -dot- com) replied:
> I'm reading my mail backwards because I've been out of touch for
> a couple of days, so please forgive me if I'm touching on something
> that's already been discussed. How can boys outnumber girls in math
> classes if math is required through the sophomore year in high
> school? (Because you're talking about junior high here, right? Or
> are other school districts different from the one I grew up in?)

        I'd assume the correlation is for elective math classes,
something most high schools have (and when I went through high school,
in the early eighties, *math* was required, but the range of math
classes varied widely - some students took geometry while others took
algebra while still others took calculus, all in the same grade).

> Also, the connection between math and computers is, IMHO, a false
> one. [...she's not a math weenie, yet she feels computers enhanced
> the quality of her life...]

        I think the connection is inclusive, not exclusive.  Not that
the humanities weenies are less likely, but that math weenies are
*more* likely.  Plus, the topic under discussion was (I think it's
strayed a bit) the predominance of males in the computer field (which
means a heavy emphasis on engineering, programming, etc) and it's
probably a valid point.

Steven J. Owens
uso01 -at- unidata -dot- com