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So your proposition is that interest is 100% irrelevant to eventual career path? That's the only scenario where this data is irrelevant. I didn't notice the art

So your proposition is that interest is 100% irrelevant to eventual career path? That's the only scenario where this data is irrelevant. I didn't notice the article saying "interest should correlate 100% with career and any difference is just sexism", which seems to be the straw man you're putting up.

Nadya 11y ago
Perhaps my choice of using "irrelevant" wasn't the the best. I should have said "completely meaningless". Close meanings but the nuance is a bit different. My proposition is that interest is only a small factor in eventual career path and that interest alone won't land you many jobs. You have to put effort into obtaining the necessary credentials (be it academic or otherwise). Did you put that effort in because of interest? Sure, I can't argue that interest would play a factor into motivation but interest alone is completely meaningless. An even better example would be "astronaut". Everyone I know thinks its the damnest coolest job a human being could ever have! I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in my office who wouldn't want to be an astronaut! But how many people become astronauts? Is it because it discriminates towards them or because its a lot of hard work and years of training that they haven't put the effort in to do? Or is it because interest alone is an irrelevant factor into eventual employment as an astronaut?
- jacalata 11y ago
  Ok, so what if I told you that "people in your office aren't astronauts because they aren't interested in being astronauts"? You'd say that was wrong, but could you prove it? That's what this article is trying to do - refute people who say "women aren't engineers because they aren't interested in being engineers". I don't understand why you are leaping straight over this point.
  - Nadya 11y ago
    Anyone with an actual interest in a subject displays motivation to pursue that interest. A self-reported interest that shows no signs of being an actual interest isn't an interest worth accounting for. Therefore I would claim that, because nobody has pursued a job as an astronaut in my office, that 0% of the people in my office are truly interested in becoming an astronaut - regardless of their claims (yes, I'm calling them liars [0]) >That's what this article is trying to do - refute people who say "women aren't engineers because they aren't interested in being engineers". I often see this argument more accurately represented as "women aren't engineers because they aren't choosing to be engineers" (which stems from a lack of interest in comparison to other fields) How much do women like Engineering over Biology, Business, Psychology, and the myriad of other choices they are presented with? Is it wrong for women to prefer Biology over Engineering? [0] I like strawberry icecream. I am presented three choices of icecream: chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry. I am allowed to pick two flavors. I pick chocolate and vanilla.

Nadya 11y ago

Perhaps my choice of using "irrelevant" wasn't the the best. I should have said "completely meaningless". Close meanings but the nuance is a bit different. My proposition is that interest is only a small factor in eventual career path and that interest alone won't land you many jobs. You have to put effort into obtaining the necessary credentials (be it academic or otherwise). Did you put that effort in because of interest? Sure, I can't argue that interest would play a factor into motivation but interest alone is completely meaningless. An even better example would be "astronaut". Everyone I know thinks its the damnest coolest job a human being could ever have! I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in my office who wouldn't want to be an astronaut! But how many people become astronauts? Is it because it discriminates towards them or because its a lot of hard work and years of training that they haven't put the effort in to do? Or is it because interest alone is an irrelevant factor into eventual employment as an astronaut?

jacalata 11y ago
Ok, so what if I told you that "people in your office aren't astronauts because they aren't interested in being astronauts"? You'd say that was wrong, but could you prove it? That's what this article is trying to do - refute people who say "women aren't engineers because they aren't interested in being engineers". I don't understand why you are leaping straight over this point.
- Nadya 11y ago
  Anyone with an actual interest in a subject displays motivation to pursue that interest. A self-reported interest that shows no signs of being an actual interest isn't an interest worth accounting for. Therefore I would claim that, because nobody has pursued a job as an astronaut in my office, that 0% of the people in my office are truly interested in becoming an astronaut - regardless of their claims (yes, I'm calling them liars [0]) >That's what this article is trying to do - refute people who say "women aren't engineers because they aren't interested in being engineers". I often see this argument more accurately represented as "women aren't engineers because they aren't choosing to be engineers" (which stems from a lack of interest in comparison to other fields) How much do women like Engineering over Biology, Business, Psychology, and the myriad of other choices they are presented with? Is it wrong for women to prefer Biology over Engineering? [0] I like strawberry icecream. I am presented three choices of icecream: chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry. I am allowed to pick two flavors. I pick chocolate and vanilla.