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> My understanding is that girls tend to hear this from the people they look to for guidance -- teachers, guidance counsellors, friends, and parents. Aren't mo

> My understanding is that girls tend to hear this from the people they look to for guidance -- teachers, guidance counsellors, friends, and parents. Aren't most of their teachers, friends, and roughly half of their parents women?

dragonwriter 11y ago
> Aren't most of their teachers, friends, and roughly half of their parents women? Social norms which preserve group (race, sex/gender, caste, etc.) roles are rarely present among only the group whose acceptable roles under those norms are also those most valued.
uptown 11y ago
Perhaps. But if you look at the current distribution of gender in engineering they may not advocate exploring those professions because historically it wasn't common for someone to advocate the same for them. The key is breaking that cycle so people feel free to explore whatever they're interested in.
- brandonmenc 11y ago
  3/4 of teachers in the US are women and almost half of them are in their 30s or younger. I find it nearly impossible to believe that, in this environment, girls aren't encountering "you go girl!" from their teachers, multiple times a day.
  - cbhl 11y ago
    The literature says you are wrong. For example, a 1999 review[0] of the literature noted that teachers "tend to stereotype mathematics as a male domain, [...] overrate male students' mathematics capability, have higher expectations for male students and more positive attitudes about male students". Look, if even ONE woman in computer science said to you that her high school math teacher told her that she wouldn't be well suited for Computer Science, you don't tell her, "I find it impossible to believe you." Chances are, dozens of other men have already said the same thing -- and that can be just as discouraging as the original comment. [0] http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0013188990410106 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0013188990410106

dragonwriter 11y ago

> Aren't most of their teachers, friends, and roughly half of their parents women? Social norms which preserve group (race, sex/gender, caste, etc.) roles are rarely present among only the group whose acceptable roles under those norms are also those most valued.

uptown 11y ago

Perhaps. But if you look at the current distribution of gender in engineering they may not advocate exploring those professions because historically it wasn't common for someone to advocate the same for them. The key is breaking that cycle so people feel free to explore whatever they're interested in.

brandonmenc 11y ago
3/4 of teachers in the US are women and almost half of them are in their 30s or younger. I find it nearly impossible to believe that, in this environment, girls aren't encountering "you go girl!" from their teachers, multiple times a day.
- cbhl 11y ago
  The literature says you are wrong. For example, a 1999 review[0] of the literature noted that teachers "tend to stereotype mathematics as a male domain, [...] overrate male students' mathematics capability, have higher expectations for male students and more positive attitudes about male students". Look, if even ONE woman in computer science said to you that her high school math teacher told her that she wouldn't be well suited for Computer Science, you don't tell her, "I find it impossible to believe you." Chances are, dozens of other men have already said the same thing -- and that can be just as discouraging as the original comment. [0] http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0013188990410106 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0013188990410106