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The article has evidence for something that I've long suspected -- that the opportunities for women in math and science actually got worse after World War 2 tha
by QuesnayJr 7y ago
The article has evidence for something that I've long suspected -- that the opportunities for women in math and science actually got worse after World War 2 than it was before the war. The article mentions that more women got Ph.D.'s in math in the 30s than in the 50s, even though many more Ph.D.'s were issued in the 50s. It shows that progress is far from inevitable.
- ncmncm 7y agoThey were quite open about it: women were supposed to move out to make room for returning servicemen. Women were allowed to program because it was, ignorantly, considered a clerical task.
- QuesnayJr 7y agoI always heard that opportunities briefly opened up for women during the war, because the men were away, and then when the men came back they had to "make room" as you say. But it was worse than that. Women lost progress that they had made before the war even started.
- ncmncm 7y agoVery true. It was not any sort of accident, but a deliberate program by business leaders to create a subclass of exclusive consumers.