OK, I'll bite. Sides of this issue you might not be considering [LWN.net]

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)
In reply to: OK, I'll bite. Sides of this issue you might not be considering by BrucePerens
Parent article: FSF to host a mini-summit on Women in Free Software

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.)

(Log in to post comments)

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.