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I honestly feel like framing the debate around surface elements like color (of all things) is worse than useless, and would rather people focus on what tech-y g

I honestly feel like framing the debate around surface elements like color (of all things) is worse than useless, and would rather people focus on what tech-y groups have historically attracted young girls with no problem - neopets(1), for example. (The linked article below focuses on a few things that really resonates with me - emotional security paired with the freedom to play and hack, not having to ~present~ a gender to participate, having an aesthetic flexibility around your own spaces, etc.) (1) http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/features/neopets-a-look-into-early-2000s-girl-culture-w509885 http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/features/neopets-a-look-i...

discreditable 9y ago
Agreed. The whole thing reminds me of the old pink ponies slashdot April fools theme: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#2000s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#2000s
stinkytaco 9y ago
Some of the problem with this discussion is the fact that we talk about technology as an end in itself. We expect that people will get interested because they like tech for techs sake, not because they view tech as a means to some other end. It's possible to become interested in tech because you'd like to build things or make movies or program games. My daughter is really ambivalent to "engineering", but she'd very much like to make movies and has become fairly tech savvy as part of that process.
- Steve_T_online 9y ago
  The pursuit of knowledge in technology can be an end in itself. Very often there is another purpose, such as your daughter wanting to make movies, so the tech knowledge happens through that greater desire. However a (small) percentage of children in my classes will quite happily play with BIDMAS equations in Python for an entire hour-long lesson, and then come back at lunchtime to see how addition and subtraction are affected by parentheses. They come back just for the kick of seeing maths equations calculated in a coding language, and they are an equal mix of male and female.
deleted 9y ago
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discreditable 9y ago

Agreed. The whole thing reminds me of the old pink ponies slashdot April fools theme: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#2000s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#2000s

stinkytaco 9y ago

Some of the problem with this discussion is the fact that we talk about technology as an end in itself. We expect that people will get interested because they like tech for techs sake, not because they view tech as a means to some other end. It's possible to become interested in tech because you'd like to build things or make movies or program games. My daughter is really ambivalent to "engineering", but she'd very much like to make movies and has become fairly tech savvy as part of that process.

Steve_T_online 9y ago
The pursuit of knowledge in technology can be an end in itself. Very often there is another purpose, such as your daughter wanting to make movies, so the tech knowledge happens through that greater desire. However a (small) percentage of children in my classes will quite happily play with BIDMAS equations in Python for an entire hour-long lesson, and then come back at lunchtime to see how addition and subtraction are affected by parentheses. They come back just for the kick of seeing maths equations calculated in a coding language, and they are an equal mix of male and female.

deleted 9y ago

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