6 ms·

Female strangers get better response rates when e-mailing professors

51 points by andreyf 17y ago

jpwagner 17y ago
corollary: female strangers get better [any form of communication] response rates from [anybody]
- JoachimSchipper 17y ago
  How does that follow? Or do you intend to say that the observed effect is just a facet of a more general effect?
  - axod 17y ago
    I'd say that in general: * Women are *far* better at communication than men * Men are more likely to respond to women, than women are likely to respond to men. I don't know who this is news to though.
    - JoachimSchipper 17y ago
      Your argument is indeed not new; I was just somewhat surprised to see "corollary: <general statement>" mean "this is a corollary of <general statement>" instead of "<general statement> is a corollary of this". I see that you meant the first. EDIT: sorry if this sounds unnecessarily snippy; I honestly wondered if you meant the second.
- jrockway 17y ago
  Try it on IRC sometime. You'll find that within seconds, pretending to be a girl is instantly advantageous. Just don't overdo it.
  - wallflower 17y ago
    iDog http://www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/academics/dri/idog.html http://www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/academics/dri/idog.html
teilo 17y ago
It is just as likely that female professors are more likely to respond to female questions because they expect that females are more likely than males to listen to the answer. Why do we have to jump right to a presumption of negative sexual bias?
- sliverstorm 17y ago
  > Why do we have to jump right to a presumption of negative sexual bias? Track record.
- rguzman 17y ago
  Isn't expecting that females to be more likely to listen than males a negative sexual bias?
  - pyre 17y ago
    I think the point GP was trying to make is that this isn't necessarily a case of male professors being nice to women just because they are attracted to them (or assume that they might be attractive) and that there is a possibility of sex. (or something to that effect) It's still 'sexism' if a professor responds better to female students than male students because he perceives female students as being more receptive and grateful for the help. But not necessarily in a negative "I'm hoping to get laid" sort of way.
    - smallblacksun 17y ago
      So it's okay to be sexist if you aren't doing it because you're attracted to the person?
      - pyre 17y ago
        I'm not saying anything of the sort. The implication that professors are being nice to female students to get sex implies that they are trying to abuse the power of their authority. If they are being nice because they perceive female students as more receptive to/grateful for help, it's a little more benign, no?
dirkstoop 17y ago
Maybe she (he?) has stumbled upon the single most important mechanism by which any single gender dominated industry self-compensates. (I'm assuming here that - since the author emailed mostly males - this field is predominantly male; I have no facts to back up that assumption) Would love to see a similar study into replies to emails from male/female aliases to professionals in a predominantly female field.
- leif 17y ago
  I've been reading this blog (really, letting it pile up in google reader) for some time now, and though I can't point you to a specific post, I'm pretty sure I remember the author being a he.
__bjoernd 17y ago
The post's comments describe a row of useful explanations for these facts apart from sexual focus.
leif 17y ago
My first interpretation of this data is that professors are trying to encourage young women to get interested in their field, and therefore subconsciously giving them more resources, but that is probably because there are so few women in the fields I study. It would be nice to know what areas of research contained the studied professors, but I don't want to read all those comments. Also, a sample size of several dozen? That doesn't sound like a lot to me.
- jongraehl 17y ago
  Several dozen is plenty if the effect is strong. He claims it is.
alexgartrell 17y ago
So I've TA'ed for a little while now and I think the answer isn't anything fundamental how women are regarded or how man are being biased against. Men rarely, if ever, act as grateful as women when you help them. There's a long list of potential reasons for this, but I've found it nearly universally to be the case. Even though it's not politically correct, you're more likely to help the person who will thank you sincerely for the help as opposed to the guy who feels like you owe it to him (also often the case).
- chops 17y ago
  My experience is not in line with yours. In my experience, answering calls and support questions, I've gotten plenty of guys who are grateful for the help. They might not gush about it, but they almost universally offer thanks for any help I give, it's just more in the guy-like "Thanks a lot, dude, I really appreciate it." On the flip-side, in my experience (I run a MMO guild hosting site, so this is a demographic that's rife with drama), the women I've talked with have a much stronger tendency to get WAY vindictive. I find harshly written emails (on that rare occasion) tend to come from women moreso than men. The men I've helped, when sending an email concerning something like billing or whatnot, tend to be more chill about things "Hey, I noticed X and it doesn't seem to be in line with what I was expecting. What's up?", vs the emails I've gotten from women for similar issues that go something like "What the hell? I don't know what you guys are doing, but if this issue isn't resolved immediately, I'm going to dispute the charge" (mind you, that might be an initial correspondence). None of this is universal, but those are some of the tendencies I've experienced.
- greenlblue 17y ago
  That's been my experience as well. Guys are more arrogant and feel more entitled than girls and overall I have noticed that girls are more willing to put in the effort and do the work to get a good grade whereas guys will come to you with a sob story and all their initial enthusiasm about doing better will fizzle out within a week.
- gaius 17y ago
  By "act grateful" you mean, she will (deliberately) mimic the signals that she finds you attractive, making you momentarily feel good about yourself. It's the same as when the pretty waitress flirts with you. She flirts with everyone, and gets good tips. A man will simply say "cheers" and buy you a pint. What do you expect him to do?
eplanit 17y ago
And this is a surprise to anyone?
Dellort 17y ago
Well they should be aware that professors make up almost 99% of all rapists.
suckafree 17y ago
Of course male professors answer females at a higher response rate. Those in the academia world rarely have hot wives. Professors get married later in life (this has to do with them having no lives outside of the lab). They then have to settle for less than what they want so they marry an intelligent woman who is in that 4-6.5 range on a scale from 1-10. And when young melissamiller comes emailing, she serves as a welcome distraction to grading papers. Stop making this out to be a big deal.
- jrockway 17y ago
  You have broken the record for most unfounded generalizations in one paragraph.
  - suckafree 17y ago
    Just because I don't have fancy science to back it up doesn't mean it's not true.
    - jrockway 17y ago
      So what about the female professors. Did they settle for a 4.5 wife too?
growingconcern 17y ago
In other interesting news: kids like candy.
- pyre 17y ago
  Contrary to popular belief though, babies much prefer milk (breast or formula) to candy. So finding a baby with candy to 'take' may prove to be a difficult proposition (for varying definitions of 'baby', I suppose).
  - klipt 17y ago
    Candy in the possession of a baby is also likely to be covered in drool. Considering its inexpensiveness, why not just buy candy?
fauigerzigerk 17y ago
If you combine that with the proportion of females in high level academic jobs you get a pretty clear picture: Females are encouraged to ask experts for help whilst somehow being discouraged from becoming experts themselves.
mnemonicfx 17y ago
For females, don't get too excited. If you're pretty, sexy, and all that, they will continue to respond you, and supported you in every endeavor. But, if you're not pretty, you would be judged only by your appearance. Not your brain.
- jamesbritt 17y ago
  Really? Everyone? Can you back up this gigantic generalization, or is this simply rampant cynicism? I know people of both sexes who judge people on appearances, but most folks I've dealt with don't let that get in the way.
  - mnemonicfx 17y ago
    Isn't that the point of this article?
paniarose 17y ago
Every women should read this amazing stuff http://www.squidoo.com/womensera http://www.squidoo.com/womensera

51 points by andreyf 17y ago

jpwagner 17y ago

corollary: female strangers get better [any form of communication] response rates from [anybody]

JoachimSchipper 17y ago
How does that follow? Or do you intend to say that the observed effect is just a facet of a more general effect?
- axod 17y ago
  I'd say that in general: * Women are *far* better at communication than men * Men are more likely to respond to women, than women are likely to respond to men. I don't know who this is news to though.
  - JoachimSchipper 17y ago
    Your argument is indeed not new; I was just somewhat surprised to see "corollary: <general statement>" mean "this is a corollary of <general statement>" instead of "<general statement> is a corollary of this". I see that you meant the first. EDIT: sorry if this sounds unnecessarily snippy; I honestly wondered if you meant the second.
jrockway 17y ago
Try it on IRC sometime. You'll find that within seconds, pretending to be a girl is instantly advantageous. Just don't overdo it.
- wallflower 17y ago
  iDog http://www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/academics/dri/idog.html http://www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/academics/dri/idog.html

teilo 17y ago

It is just as likely that female professors are more likely to respond to female questions because they expect that females are more likely than males to listen to the answer. Why do we have to jump right to a presumption of negative sexual bias?

sliverstorm 17y ago
> Why do we have to jump right to a presumption of negative sexual bias? Track record.
rguzman 17y ago
Isn't expecting that females to be more likely to listen than males a negative sexual bias?
- pyre 17y ago
  I think the point GP was trying to make is that this isn't necessarily a case of male professors being nice to women just because they are attracted to them (or assume that they might be attractive) and that there is a possibility of sex. (or something to that effect) It's still 'sexism' if a professor responds better to female students than male students because he perceives female students as being more receptive and grateful for the help. But not necessarily in a negative "I'm hoping to get laid" sort of way.
  - smallblacksun 17y ago
    So it's okay to be sexist if you aren't doing it because you're attracted to the person?
    - pyre 17y ago
      I'm not saying anything of the sort. The implication that professors are being nice to female students to get sex implies that they are trying to abuse the power of their authority. If they are being nice because they perceive female students as more receptive to/grateful for help, it's a little more benign, no?

dirkstoop 17y ago

Maybe she (he?) has stumbled upon the single most important mechanism by which any single gender dominated industry self-compensates. (I'm assuming here that - since the author emailed mostly males - this field is predominantly male; I have no facts to back up that assumption) Would love to see a similar study into replies to emails from male/female aliases to professionals in a predominantly female field.

leif 17y ago
I've been reading this blog (really, letting it pile up in google reader) for some time now, and though I can't point you to a specific post, I'm pretty sure I remember the author being a he.

__bjoernd 17y ago

The post's comments describe a row of useful explanations for these facts apart from sexual focus.

leif 17y ago

My first interpretation of this data is that professors are trying to encourage young women to get interested in their field, and therefore subconsciously giving them more resources, but that is probably because there are so few women in the fields I study. It would be nice to know what areas of research contained the studied professors, but I don't want to read all those comments. Also, a sample size of several dozen? That doesn't sound like a lot to me.

jongraehl 17y ago
Several dozen is plenty if the effect is strong. He claims it is.

alexgartrell 17y ago

So I've TA'ed for a little while now and I think the answer isn't anything fundamental how women are regarded or how man are being biased against. Men rarely, if ever, act as grateful as women when you help them. There's a long list of potential reasons for this, but I've found it nearly universally to be the case. Even though it's not politically correct, you're more likely to help the person who will thank you sincerely for the help as opposed to the guy who feels like you owe it to him (also often the case).

chops 17y ago
My experience is not in line with yours. In my experience, answering calls and support questions, I've gotten plenty of guys who are grateful for the help. They might not gush about it, but they almost universally offer thanks for any help I give, it's just more in the guy-like "Thanks a lot, dude, I really appreciate it." On the flip-side, in my experience (I run a MMO guild hosting site, so this is a demographic that's rife with drama), the women I've talked with have a much stronger tendency to get WAY vindictive. I find harshly written emails (on that rare occasion) tend to come from women moreso than men. The men I've helped, when sending an email concerning something like billing or whatnot, tend to be more chill about things "Hey, I noticed X and it doesn't seem to be in line with what I was expecting. What's up?", vs the emails I've gotten from women for similar issues that go something like "What the hell? I don't know what you guys are doing, but if this issue isn't resolved immediately, I'm going to dispute the charge" (mind you, that might be an initial correspondence). None of this is universal, but those are some of the tendencies I've experienced.
greenlblue 17y ago
That's been my experience as well. Guys are more arrogant and feel more entitled than girls and overall I have noticed that girls are more willing to put in the effort and do the work to get a good grade whereas guys will come to you with a sob story and all their initial enthusiasm about doing better will fizzle out within a week.
gaius 17y ago
By "act grateful" you mean, she will (deliberately) mimic the signals that she finds you attractive, making you momentarily feel good about yourself. It's the same as when the pretty waitress flirts with you. She flirts with everyone, and gets good tips. A man will simply say "cheers" and buy you a pint. What do you expect him to do?

eplanit 17y ago

And this is a surprise to anyone?

Dellort 17y ago

Well they should be aware that professors make up almost 99% of all rapists.

suckafree 17y ago

Of course male professors answer females at a higher response rate. Those in the academia world rarely have hot wives. Professors get married later in life (this has to do with them having no lives outside of the lab). They then have to settle for less than what they want so they marry an intelligent woman who is in that 4-6.5 range on a scale from 1-10. And when young melissamiller comes emailing, she serves as a welcome distraction to grading papers. Stop making this out to be a big deal.

jrockway 17y ago
You have broken the record for most unfounded generalizations in one paragraph.
- suckafree 17y ago
  Just because I don't have fancy science to back it up doesn't mean it's not true.
  - jrockway 17y ago
    So what about the female professors. Did they settle for a 4.5 wife too?

growingconcern 17y ago

In other interesting news: kids like candy.

pyre 17y ago
Contrary to popular belief though, babies much prefer milk (breast or formula) to candy. So finding a baby with candy to 'take' may prove to be a difficult proposition (for varying definitions of 'baby', I suppose).
- klipt 17y ago
  Candy in the possession of a baby is also likely to be covered in drool. Considering its inexpensiveness, why not just buy candy?

fauigerzigerk 17y ago

If you combine that with the proportion of females in high level academic jobs you get a pretty clear picture: Females are encouraged to ask experts for help whilst somehow being discouraged from becoming experts themselves.

mnemonicfx 17y ago

For females, don't get too excited. If you're pretty, sexy, and all that, they will continue to respond you, and supported you in every endeavor. But, if you're not pretty, you would be judged only by your appearance. Not your brain.

jamesbritt 17y ago
Really? Everyone? Can you back up this gigantic generalization, or is this simply rampant cynicism? I know people of both sexes who judge people on appearances, but most folks I've dealt with don't let that get in the way.
- mnemonicfx 17y ago
  Isn't that the point of this article?

paniarose 17y ago

Every women should read this amazing stuff http://www.squidoo.com/womensera http://www.squidoo.com/womensera