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There is a masochist bent to many CS programs, where students are basically told that they need to "sink or swim", then get pushed into the water. I saw more th

by Duff 15y ago

There is a masochist bent to many CS programs, where students are basically told that they need to "sink or swim", then get pushed into the water. I saw more than a few people just hit a wall and give up. I think that in general, women tend to thrive in different circumstances than men. A big part of the way that CS is presented to students is that it is a "lone wolf" endeavor, and students are expected to just figure stuff out. That appeals to the hardcore, anti-social nerds and feeds the male ego. It's not appealing to women or most men. The IT team that I run now is probably 60% female. They rock, and only one of them has a degree in CS. It's a real shame that in a field where top companies claim to be short on talent, keyword filtering is virtually eliminating half of the potential workforce.

jackowayed 15y ago
One of the great things about Stanford CS program is that it tries very hard not to have the "sink or swim" mentality, especially for the first 2 classes. For those classes, you have a large lecture, but then you have 10-person sections once a week, 6 hours a night where you can come and have section leaders help you with assignments, and "interactive grading" with your section leader where you spend 10-15 min going over your assignment and hearing what you did well and where you can improve. This has been hugely successful; on the order of half of undergrads take the first class, and gender balance is pretty good in them.
- mitjak 15y ago
  It's infomercial o'clock.
StuffMaster 15y ago
>expected to just figure stuff out I'm not trying to belittle people who need help, but those who don't like to figure stuff out might be in the wrong field...
- theclay 15y ago
  Strange as it sounds, lots of incoming freshman have never had to figure out anything before. Their "education" has consisted of nothing but regurgitating standardized lessons for standardized tests. These students need some time to learn how to think. That doesn't mean they can't, just that they don't know how yet.
  - andrewflnr 15y ago
    That is incredibly sad. Surely if you care about CS, or medicine or law for that matter, you would find out as much as possible before-hand? Figuring stuff out should be the number one priority of education. I think it should be a policy. Even if that wouldn't change much by itself, beauracracies being what they are, a few more people would take it to heart.
  - StuffMaster 15y ago
    I'm not speaking of academics so much as tinkering, for which computers are the ultimate toy. When thinking about the geek or IT fields, I expect that people should like figuring stuff out, the typical nerd/engineer mindset. That's not everybody in CS programs I know, but my inner geek wants it to be.

by Duff 15y ago

jackowayed 15y ago

One of the great things about Stanford CS program is that it tries very hard not to have the "sink or swim" mentality, especially for the first 2 classes. For those classes, you have a large lecture, but then you have 10-person sections once a week, 6 hours a night where you can come and have section leaders help you with assignments, and "interactive grading" with your section leader where you spend 10-15 min going over your assignment and hearing what you did well and where you can improve. This has been hugely successful; on the order of half of undergrads take the first class, and gender balance is pretty good in them.

mitjak 15y ago
It's infomercial o'clock.

StuffMaster 15y ago

>expected to just figure stuff out I'm not trying to belittle people who need help, but those who don't like to figure stuff out might be in the wrong field...

theclay 15y ago
Strange as it sounds, lots of incoming freshman have never had to figure out anything before. Their "education" has consisted of nothing but regurgitating standardized lessons for standardized tests. These students need some time to learn how to think. That doesn't mean they can't, just that they don't know how yet.
- andrewflnr 15y ago
  That is incredibly sad. Surely if you care about CS, or medicine or law for that matter, you would find out as much as possible before-hand? Figuring stuff out should be the number one priority of education. I think it should be a policy. Even if that wouldn't change much by itself, beauracracies being what they are, a few more people would take it to heart.
- StuffMaster 15y ago
  I'm not speaking of academics so much as tinkering, for which computers are the ultimate toy. When thinking about the geek or IT fields, I expect that people should like figuring stuff out, the typical nerd/engineer mindset. That's not everybody in CS programs I know, but my inner geek wants it to be.