4 ms·

Maybe blacks and women just don't like computer programming. Why do we have to "socially engineer" them to do so?

kaonashi 13y ago
> Maybe blacks and women just don't like computer programming. Maybe black women have fewer opportunities to learn computer programming.
- NicoJuicy 13y ago
  I learned programming on the net, so everyone has the same opportunity for sure :-)
  - kaonashi 13y ago
    Not necessarily. Maybe they don't have a computer at home; maybe they don't have reliable access to the internet. The more likely a person lives in poverty, the more likely the above is true. The more likely a person is female and black, the more likely a person lives in poverty.
    - NicoJuicy 13y ago
      Access to a computer is more a geographical / social (=community) problem, then a gender or racial problem. If i'm not mistaking, you have social programs to get people cheap internet access / computers (we have in our country (belgium)). But i don't know how it really is, but according to my experience, girls just don't code (much), it's the same generalisation as girls don't game (except games like 'The Sims'). And if they have any interest, it's more in design, then coding. Of my Informatics class (4 girls of 20 guys), none of them actually ended up programming... I'm curious about the results of your program, pre and after about how much girls are really coding and are getting interested in it (and doing it after hours, for example). None the less, it's a great initiative and i hope you have a success :) If i generalise 2 jobs by gender: - coding = guys - nursing / children care = girls Like the first response: Girls Code, would be a better initiative, in my subjective personal opinion. PS. Fighting against racism, is mixing a lot of races together. Not splitting them up in a class with just one race... You're actually giving a bad example by not mixing races, other races can also live in poverty, you know ;-) Nothing is stopping you from actively recruiting "black" girls, but with this title, you're excluding a lot of other girls who could benefit from this program, but aren't black. They won't even try to join if they see your programs title and might feel offended. All your pupils will be influenced to hang out with only other black people :-)
      - kaonashi 13y ago
        > PS. Fighting against racism, is mixing a lot of races together. The program serves highly segregated communities, your suggestion is rather a non-starter.

> Maybe blacks and women just don't like computer programming. Maybe black women have fewer opportunities to learn computer programming.

NicoJuicy 13y ago
I learned programming on the net, so everyone has the same opportunity for sure :-)
- kaonashi 13y ago
  Not necessarily. Maybe they don't have a computer at home; maybe they don't have reliable access to the internet. The more likely a person lives in poverty, the more likely the above is true. The more likely a person is female and black, the more likely a person lives in poverty.
  - NicoJuicy 13y ago
    Access to a computer is more a geographical / social (=community) problem, then a gender or racial problem. If i'm not mistaking, you have social programs to get people cheap internet access / computers (we have in our country (belgium)). But i don't know how it really is, but according to my experience, girls just don't code (much), it's the same generalisation as girls don't game (except games like 'The Sims'). And if they have any interest, it's more in design, then coding. Of my Informatics class (4 girls of 20 guys), none of them actually ended up programming... I'm curious about the results of your program, pre and after about how much girls are really coding and are getting interested in it (and doing it after hours, for example). None the less, it's a great initiative and i hope you have a success :) If i generalise 2 jobs by gender: - coding = guys - nursing / children care = girls Like the first response: Girls Code, would be a better initiative, in my subjective personal opinion. PS. Fighting against racism, is mixing a lot of races together. Not splitting them up in a class with just one race... You're actually giving a bad example by not mixing races, other races can also live in poverty, you know ;-) Nothing is stopping you from actively recruiting "black" girls, but with this title, you're excluding a lot of other girls who could benefit from this program, but aren't black. They won't even try to join if they see your programs title and might feel offended. All your pupils will be influenced to hang out with only other black people :-)
    - kaonashi 13y ago
      > PS. Fighting against racism, is mixing a lot of races together. The program serves highly segregated communities, your suggestion is rather a non-starter.