5 ms·

The article mis-states their case: women earn 52% of chemistry undergrad degrees and 41% of straight-up math degrees. The problem is not math itself but the cu

The article mis-states their case: women earn 52% of chemistry undergrad degrees and 41% of straight-up math degrees. The problem is not math itself but the culture surrounding Engineering, Physics and Computer Science in particular.

hjuihjigt 14y ago
As far as math is concerned, not even close to 40% of advances in the field are fostered by women. In fact it seems that even though more women get Bscs in math, actual cutting edge research in math continues to be made by 10% of women at best, roughly the same ratio as a generation ago. Still not a single Fields medalist is female (despite the tremendous backstage games to change that) and that is not because of bias, very few (if any) women currently deserve it.
- Shorel 14y ago
  Women are good and average and safe (genetically speaking). Men are more distributed in the extremes: both extremely bad and extremely good. Just think of this: Why the number of people in prison is mostly males instead of half male and half female? Should we try to 'correct' this too? This is not a problem of society, but a consequence of different reproductive strategies.
  - Mz 14y ago
    I don't know that there is any reason to think these social outcomes are rooted in genes. It looks to me like it's rooted in something else. Care to share where/why you got the idea that it is genetically determined? Thanks.
    - barry-cotter 14y ago
      What is the maximum number of children a man can have? What is the maximum number of children a woman can have? What does this imply about the best strategy for maximising number of descendants for men and for women? Male mating strategies exhibit far higher skew than female ones. Men have higher variance than women in every trait I know of, from heighth to IQ scores to income. Men take more risks. Here's[0] where you'll find the most convenient counterarguments or pointers to same. Here's[1] the best book I've encountered on the general topic. The introductory chapter is excellent. [0]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_evolutionary_psychology#Ethnocentrism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_evolutionary_psych... [1]http://books.google.com.hk/books/about/The_Handbook_of_Evolutionary_Psychology.html?id=esDW3xTKoLIC http://books.google.com.hk/books/about/The_Handbook_of_Evolu...
patio11 14y ago
I think the problem is the culture in Elementary Education, Public Health, Social Work, and Medicine: if they weren't poaching all of the women who are CS's by right we'd stabilize at three women for every two men like is the just and natural result for university studies. (The following line might have been feminist once: women have agency and are not puppets for men. When you see a group of women doing something, if your first thought is "What have men done to cause this?", Occam is not on your side.)

hjuihjigt 14y ago

As far as math is concerned, not even close to 40% of advances in the field are fostered by women. In fact it seems that even though more women get Bscs in math, actual cutting edge research in math continues to be made by 10% of women at best, roughly the same ratio as a generation ago. Still not a single Fields medalist is female (despite the tremendous backstage games to change that) and that is not because of bias, very few (if any) women currently deserve it.

Shorel 14y ago
Women are good and average and safe (genetically speaking). Men are more distributed in the extremes: both extremely bad and extremely good. Just think of this: Why the number of people in prison is mostly males instead of half male and half female? Should we try to 'correct' this too? This is not a problem of society, but a consequence of different reproductive strategies.
- Mz 14y ago
  I don't know that there is any reason to think these social outcomes are rooted in genes. It looks to me like it's rooted in something else. Care to share where/why you got the idea that it is genetically determined? Thanks.
  - barry-cotter 14y ago
    What is the maximum number of children a man can have? What is the maximum number of children a woman can have? What does this imply about the best strategy for maximising number of descendants for men and for women? Male mating strategies exhibit far higher skew than female ones. Men have higher variance than women in every trait I know of, from heighth to IQ scores to income. Men take more risks. Here's[0] where you'll find the most convenient counterarguments or pointers to same. Here's[1] the best book I've encountered on the general topic. The introductory chapter is excellent. [0]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_evolutionary_psychology#Ethnocentrism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_evolutionary_psych... [1]http://books.google.com.hk/books/about/The_Handbook_of_Evolutionary_Psychology.html?id=esDW3xTKoLIC http://books.google.com.hk/books/about/The_Handbook_of_Evolu...

patio11 14y ago

I think the problem is the culture in Elementary Education, Public Health, Social Work, and Medicine: if they weren't poaching all of the women who are CS's by right we'd stabilize at three women for every two men like is the just and natural result for university studies. (The following line might have been feminist once: women have agency and are not puppets for men. When you see a group of women doing something, if your first thought is "What have men done to cause this?", Occam is not on your side.)