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Why would they be “weaker”? I don’t get what you’re trying to say.

chrisseaton 8y ago
I don't think they would be weaker - where do you think I said I thought that? But lots of men definitely do think women are likely to be weaker in computer science. I don't know why they think that - you'd have to ask them?
- always_good 8y ago
  But you're making the claim that men think that. You can't just pass the buck to your own premise with "dunno, you'll have to ask them."
  - chrisseaton 8y ago
    > You can't just pass the buck to your own premise with "dunno, you'll have to ask them." Yes I can. It's completely reasonable to be observe something even if you can't offer an explanation. I don't know why some people are racist but I can see that they are. I don't know why some people are sexist but I can see that they are. I don't know why some people think women are inherently weaker at computer science, but I can see that they do think that by what they say and do.
    - leshow 8y ago
      We have no evidence that people do think that though. I have never heard that women are 'weaker' in computer science than men. My guess is most people think that competence in computer science is independent of sex. If you're presenting that they don't, where is that information coming from?
      - chrisseaton 8y ago
        > My guess is most people think that competence in computer science is independent of sex. I don't know how to break this to you... but a lot of people in this world unfortunately discriminate against people based on gender, either consciously or unconsciously. > where is that information coming from To give you a concrete example, I was at a conference just recently where the speaker took questions from the audience and when a man asked a question the answer was highly technical, and when a woman asked a similar question the answer was patronising and non-technical as if he thought the woman wouldn't understand like the men did. It was really obvious, and there was no other variable. I see this kind of thing all the time. I don't know what more to tell you - if you can't see any evidence of men making assumptions that a women isn't going to be as competent in computer science just based on her gender then I think you must be blind to what is happening around you.
- troupe 8y ago
  Wasn't the group project at the end of the semester? It seems people would have had a good idea of their classmates' strengths by that point.

I don't think they would be weaker - where do you think I said I thought that? But lots of men definitely do think women are likely to be weaker in computer science. I don't know why they think that - you'd have to ask them?

always_good 8y ago
But you're making the claim that men think that. You can't just pass the buck to your own premise with "dunno, you'll have to ask them."
- chrisseaton 8y ago
  > You can't just pass the buck to your own premise with "dunno, you'll have to ask them." Yes I can. It's completely reasonable to be observe something even if you can't offer an explanation. I don't know why some people are racist but I can see that they are. I don't know why some people are sexist but I can see that they are. I don't know why some people think women are inherently weaker at computer science, but I can see that they do think that by what they say and do.
  - leshow 8y ago
    We have no evidence that people do think that though. I have never heard that women are 'weaker' in computer science than men. My guess is most people think that competence in computer science is independent of sex. If you're presenting that they don't, where is that information coming from?
    - chrisseaton 8y ago
      > My guess is most people think that competence in computer science is independent of sex. I don't know how to break this to you... but a lot of people in this world unfortunately discriminate against people based on gender, either consciously or unconsciously. > where is that information coming from To give you a concrete example, I was at a conference just recently where the speaker took questions from the audience and when a man asked a question the answer was highly technical, and when a woman asked a similar question the answer was patronising and non-technical as if he thought the woman wouldn't understand like the men did. It was really obvious, and there was no other variable. I see this kind of thing all the time. I don't know what more to tell you - if you can't see any evidence of men making assumptions that a women isn't going to be as competent in computer science just based on her gender then I think you must be blind to what is happening around you.
troupe 8y ago
Wasn't the group project at the end of the semester? It seems people would have had a good idea of their classmates' strengths by that point.