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Teaching Python to kids

Teaching Python to kids

Posted Jul 6, 2018 16:02 UTC (Fri) by karkhaz (subscriber, #99844)
In reply to: Teaching Python to kids by HelloWorld
Parent article: Teaching Python to kids

> Also you haven't answered my question: why are a majority of psychology graduates female?

Enable JavaScript and have a little play at this simulation, plugging in some different parameters.

https://ncase.me/polygons/

it should help to visualise how industries can become (and then remain) segregated, given even a slight predisposition to affiliate with members of your own group. This doesn't only apply to genders---could apply to any situation where you can partition humans into different groups, but the simulation only uses two groups.

To answer your question: let's suppose that industry I has historically been dominated by group G for reasons that were thought to be true in the past, but we "know better" than that nowadays and thus the various barriers for other group O to partake in the industry have recently been removed. Members of group O don't immediately flock to industry I precisely because most of them have a preference to having at least a few other Os in their environment. So a reason that you observe that Os do not enter industry I even when they have an equal opportunity to do so is because there are very few Os in I already. It's not because they have a predisposition against I.

And for an explanation of why it can be disproportionately (quadratically!) uncomfortable to be a member of a minority group, see the Petrie Multiplier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrie_multiplier
http://blog.ian.gent/2013/10/the-petrie-multiplier-why-at...


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Teaching Python to kids

Posted Jul 6, 2018 21:50 UTC (Fri) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link] (2 responses)

> it should help to visualise how industries can become (and then remain) segregated, given even a slight predisposition to affiliate with members of your own group.
But the point is that it doesn't seem to be that way in practice. All fields in academia were heavily male-dominated at the beginning of the 20th century, and yet this has switched for a large number of fields, where psychology is just one example. In fact there are more women than men enrolling in universities these days.

Teaching Python to kids

Posted Jul 6, 2018 22:42 UTC (Fri) by Cyberax (✭ supporter ✭, #52523) [Link] (1 responses)

Switched?

Just about 25% of employed psychology professors are female. Even though majority (around 70%) of graduates are female.

Nope, no discrimination whatsoever.

Teaching Python to kids

Posted Jul 7, 2018 0:04 UTC (Sat) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link]

> Just about 25% of employed psychology professors are female. Even though majority (around 70%) of graduates are female.
This is, again, not evidence for discrimination by itself. I have no idea why these numbers are the way they are, I haven't seen compelling evidence either way and you have, once again, not provided any.

Anyway, I think you've made your position quite clear. You also made it quite clear that you're not prepared to show any real evidence for the discrimination theory, and I'm sorry to say that you didn't leave me with the impression of somebody who will follow the evidence wherever it leads. So I'm done here.


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