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OK, I'll bite. Sides of this issue you might not be consideringOK, I'll bite. Sides of this issue you might not be consideringPosted Aug 26, 2009 22:47 UTC (Wed) by BrucePerens (guest, #2510)In reply to: OK, I'll bite. Sides of this issue you might not be considering by nix Parent article: FSF to host a mini-summit on Women in Free Software Cause unknown? Theoretical physics takes very intense concentration on really abstract mathematics. The folks who engage in it successfully are outliers as far as brain function is concerned. There is no reason to expect them to be regularly distributed across the population.
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OK, I'll bite. Sides of this issue you might not be considering Posted Aug 27, 2009 21:38 UTC (Thu) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]
Yes, but there is nothing but speculation that the extremes of mathematical ability may be gender-linked. There is essentially no actual evidence. It's the same degree of mystery as is that surrounding why most great mathematics is done by the young. (Cognitive decline? Maybe. Evidence? None.)
OK, I'll bite. Sides of this issue you might not be considering Posted Aug 28, 2009 5:59 UTC (Fri) by njs (guest, #40338) [Link] A quick look at NSF statistics shows that in the US in 2006, women made up 31% of full-time mathematics graduate students, and 19% of full-time physics graduate students.Their mathematics numbers don't have a breakdown for pure vs. applied (probably because US universities tend to stick them both into a single department), so it might be more extreme in the pure side of things (maybe the answer is buried in HESA somewhere?), but the data that is available doesn't seem very supportive of a FOSS-level gender split in either field.
OK, I'll bite. Sides of this issue you might not be considering Posted Aug 29, 2009 22:52 UTC (Sat) by spzeidler (guest, #60508) [Link]
heh, it's not really -that- hard, if not exactly a stroll in the park.
You want to know why girls drop out of math?
Cue Barbie, "Math is haaAAaaard!" (as in, just don't make the effort, you're not really supposed to understand this, let alone have fun with it - even if you are better at it than most of the boys in your class, it's not girly to have a brain)
Plus "oh, you want to study physics? that's a strange subject for a girl" (as in, you're not a proper female if you are interested in that)
Those that survive all that active discouragement are either really good or really stubborn, or both, but on any account not lacking passion for their field. There are -so- -very- -many- easier ways to get to the same degree and the same level of income.
Much the same (if at a somewhat lesser degree) with women who go into IT; one doesn't wake up one morning, "oh what will I do with my life, hairdresser, secretary, bookkeeper, programmer? let's flip a coin", a young woman becomes a programmer in spite of 90% of her environment telling her she is nuts, and does it anyway.
regards,
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