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Where do you live that teachers tell girls they are not good with science/math? Even when I went to school ages ago, nobody ever said anything like that to girl

by nec4b 6y ago

Where do you live that teachers tell girls they are not good with science/math? Even when I went to school ages ago, nobody ever said anything like that to girls in my classes.

cycomanic 6y ago
I heard it said to girls in my class in Germany (this was in the 80/90s), the teacher in question when challenged said that it was an obvious joke and the girls just can't take humour. I know quite a lot of women (both in science fields and ones who did not go into science because of this) who told me that they were told this. I have read it repeatedly on reddit/HN and others by people (in particular those who call themselves geeks/nerds) who argued women and girls are not good at science. Also one thing I learnt when talking to female colleagues and friends, is that some things we just don't see/hear, because they are said in private, e.g. in teacher meetings...
- nec4b 6y ago
  Where I went to school almost all of the teachers were women. In fact teaching profession here as a whole has been dominated by women for a very long time now. Seems a bit illogical girls would be commonly told to be unfit for science. Do you think the situation is different in Germany, because you have more vocational oriented education and probably more male teachers?
  - cycomanic 6y ago
    Education in Germany is a bit special, i.e. there are three different "tiers" of schools. The school to be able to go to university (and to which I went) is called Gymnasium and is not and in my experience (I went to a US high-school for a year as a Senior) is less vocationally oriented than US high-schools at least. While teachers being largely female is also true in Germany, the distribution depends on schools, elementary school (grade 1-4) teachers are by vast majority women, but when it comes to the Gymnasium the distribution is somewhat more even (maybe 60/40 in my time). However teachers for STEM subjects (math, physics, chemistry) are still mainly men. Moreover, I know several women who were told by women, e.g. their mothers, that girls are not good at STEM. Just to say the discouragement doesn't just come from men.

by nec4b 6y ago

Where do you live that teachers tell girls they are not good with science/math? Even when I went to school ages ago, nobody ever said anything like that to girls in my classes.

cycomanic 6y ago

I heard it said to girls in my class in Germany (this was in the 80/90s), the teacher in question when challenged said that it was an obvious joke and the girls just can't take humour. I know quite a lot of women (both in science fields and ones who did not go into science because of this) who told me that they were told this. I have read it repeatedly on reddit/HN and others by people (in particular those who call themselves geeks/nerds) who argued women and girls are not good at science. Also one thing I learnt when talking to female colleagues and friends, is that some things we just don't see/hear, because they are said in private, e.g. in teacher meetings...

nec4b 6y ago
Where I went to school almost all of the teachers were women. In fact teaching profession here as a whole has been dominated by women for a very long time now. Seems a bit illogical girls would be commonly told to be unfit for science. Do you think the situation is different in Germany, because you have more vocational oriented education and probably more male teachers?
- cycomanic 6y ago
  Education in Germany is a bit special, i.e. there are three different "tiers" of schools. The school to be able to go to university (and to which I went) is called Gymnasium and is not and in my experience (I went to a US high-school for a year as a Senior) is less vocationally oriented than US high-schools at least. While teachers being largely female is also true in Germany, the distribution depends on schools, elementary school (grade 1-4) teachers are by vast majority women, but when it comes to the Gymnasium the distribution is somewhat more even (maybe 60/40 in my time). However teachers for STEM subjects (math, physics, chemistry) are still mainly men. Moreover, I know several women who were told by women, e.g. their mothers, that girls are not good at STEM. Just to say the discouragement doesn't just come from men.