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It's surprising how different people interpret post-1980 decline of women in computer science differently. As the article suggests, introduction of personal com
by sanxiyn 9y ago
It's surprising how different people interpret post-1980 decline of women in computer science differently. As the article suggests, introduction of personal computer is one of the best candidate. My interpretation is that this data supports "interest, not ability" thesis of Damore, and personal computer amplified pre-existing interest difference.
- macrael 9y agoIf we're throwing around theories without evidence, what do you think about the fact that nerd culture, exemplified by movies from the 80s like Revenge of the Nerds, welcomes and glorifies young men who don't know how to talk to women? If women are less interested in computers than men, could it not be because we have created a culture that is unappealing to them?
- jacalata 9y agoAnd then you start learning about the different distribution of ownership and access to personal computers among boys and girls, and it looks like the personal computer actually introduced the interest difference. The book Unlocking The Clubhouse has a bunch of discussion on this topic, if you're curious.
- ElmntOfSurprise 9y agoYou mean that boys like computers more --> they buy more computers (or nag their parents about getting one), or that parents are more prone to give computers to boys --> girls never have the chance to get as interested? Interestingly, teenage girls seem to have more access to (desktop) computers than boys have nowadays: http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media/Files/Reports/2013/PIP_TeensandTechnology2013.pdf http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media/Files/Reports/201...
- cropsieboss 9y agoJust like teenage girls had more instrument playing experience than boys during an era when blues and jazz were starting to develop. Yet men lead the genre.
- jacalata 9y agoThe second one.