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I've got a girl in public school right now. I've seen the outreach programs and they're pathetic. To start with, they start with the belief that they need to r

I've got a girl in public school right now. I've seen the outreach programs and they're pathetic. To start with, they start with the belief that they need to reach out only to girls. Guess what - if the boys don't think the girls can do science and math than there are still a lot of problems to overcome. Easy example - any girl who started reading the HN message boards at a young age would probably give up on a future career in engineering. Why try when a bunch of educated men don't think you can succeed? The article is interesting but not definitive. Even granting ( which I wouldn't ) that girls have a greater aptitude for reading instead of science and math, being a good _engineer_ is also about being a good reader. If boys are naturally better at math, that doesn't at all mean they are better professionals. If they can't read the instructions for using Vivado to design firmware, than they are in the wrong profession.

Jensson 5y ago
> Why try when a bunch of educated men don't think you can succeed? I haven't seen a single person on HN say that women can't succeed in this field.
Manuel_D 5y ago
The idea that misogyny among men is responsible for keeping women out of STEM fields contrasts starkly with the considerably higher representation of women in STEM in highly misogynistic countries and lower representation in more equal countries. I've also rarely encountered commenters on hacker news saying women cannot succeed in engineering, and it's downvote heavily in the rare instances it does appear. You claim it's present in this thread, in your previous comment, yet don't link to any instances of this alleged disparagement. It strikes me as the kind of statement that stems from assumptions rather than concrete observations.