brad640 said:Note to soogar: I love your new avatar. I miss Rory but Li needs support going into the Olympics.
I'll agree with this to some extent. I'm in school now, and most of my TAs are/have been from foreign countries (Argentina, China, somewhere in Europe), but the majority of them are female. This doesn't necessarily represent the total population of TAs, though. I'm a freshman taking introductory classes which I'm sure are assigned to newer grad students.As for ladies in grad school, I remember when I went to school, all of the TA's in engineering and mathmatics were from foreign countries (most of them were male with a few female).
I agree with you. It's just a question of cause and effect. I believe that this is a self fulifilling prophesy: girls see who is in the field now, and don't want to be like that. Therefore, the next generation is even more "geeky", etc.soogar said:I hate to say it but a lot of the girls who go into the hard sciences (Physics, Mathmatics) and the "harder" engineering fields like electrical are "geeks". In softer engineering (like Biomedical and Chemical) the girls were fairly fashionable and "normal" looking. The girls who went into the hardcore engineering majors and sciences usually had mismatched clothes and were really quiet (or were from mainland China). You have a lot of dorky guys in those fields as well so it could just be that those fields attract dorks in general.
I think the fact that other countries have more women in those fields that the US does speaks volumes about issues such as social pressure.As for ladies in grad school, I remember when I went to school, all of the TA's in engineering and mathmatics were from foreign countries (most of them were male with a few female).
Ptichka said:I think the fact that other countries have more women in those fields that the US does speaks volumes about issues such as social pressure.
Both of my parents are software engineers. At both of their places of work (we're talking 1980's Leningrad here) women made up, I'd say, about 40%.attyfan said:At that time, a large portion of doctors in the former-Soviet Union were women -- but the most prestigious profession in that country wasn't medicine, but engineering -- and the engineers at that time were overwhelmingly male.
I agree to certain degree.Ptichka said:I think the fact that other countries have more women in those fields that the US does speaks volumes about issues such as social pressure.
Unfortunately, that just isn't so. I do believe that there is a level to which anyone can rise with enough work, but beyond that it becomes simply impossible for most. I have several friends working on their Artificial Intelligence PhDs at MIT. When I see them talk, I see that there is a certain level past which only a one or two of them can reach - the others are just left behind (of course, even the level they can all reach is far beyond what most people can do).gezando said:I believe (may not be scientifically proven) that anyone can do anything if they work hard enough
Ptichka said:Unfortunately, that just isn't so. I do believe that there is a level to which anyone can rise with enough work, but beyond that it becomes simply impossible for most.
Well, yes, but you seem to be putting some sort of negative connotation on the words "dork" and "geek." Some of my best friends are dorks and geeks. I used to be one myself until I got cool. (Now I am a dweeb.)soogar said:I hate to say it but a lot of the girls who go into the hard sciences (Physics, Mathmatics) and the "harder" engineering fields like electrical are "geeks". In softer engineering (like Biomedical and Chemical) the girls were fairly fashionable and "normal" looking. The girls who went into the hardcore engineering majors and sciences usually had mismatched clothes and were really quiet (or were from mainland China). You have a lot of dorky guys in those fields as well so it could just be that those fields attract dorks in general.
Ptichka said:I agree with you. It's just a question of cause and effect. I believe that this is a self fulifilling prophesy: girls see who is in the field now, and don't want to be like that. Therefore, the next generation is even more "geeky", etc.
I think the fact that other countries have more women in those fields that the US does speaks volumes about issues such as social pressure.