[Edu-sig] Acadmic gender gap (was Thoughts)

[Brian van den Broek]

Marilyn Davis said unto the world upon 2004-12-07 01:10:

<SNiP>

> One more thing.  The fact that women aren't in computing as much as
> men totally escapes me.  I don't get it at all.  Coding seems very
> much like sewing to me, requiring artful careful well-planned and
> often tedious work.  I remember that, when typewriters first came out,
> it was men's work.  And then it changed.  So I wouldn't count it as
> decided yet.
> 
> What do you think?
> 
> Marilyn Davis

Hi all,

my experience isn't with teaching CS, but with teaching formal logic in 
university Philosophy departments, largely to humanities audiences. 
(Thanks again, btw, to those respondents to my query about ways to teach 
the general mathematical concept of a function.) But, I think there 
might be some overlap in the issues here.

Most classes, the gender breakdown is pretty even, with slightly more 
women than men. Almost every time, the women are over-represented *both* 
in the group of the best students and in the group of students that fail.

Once the symbolism starts, many of the female students immediately seem 
to think "this is math, and I cannot do math, so I cannot do this". When 
talking to them in office hours, etc., the big struggle is usually to 
convince them that they actually *can* understand the material.

By contrast, the big struggle with many of the male students who are 
having difficulty is to convince them that they do not *yet* understand 
it. It is an odd contrast -- males seem to assume that of course they 
get this stuff, females that of course they cannot.

Whenever I, with my modest skill set, have been asked to help a friend 
with their computer problems, the pattern is similar. Generally, my male 
friends have goofed something up, fuelled by a mistaken belief that they 
understood what was at issue. My female friends often have very minor 
difficulties that they actually do know how to resolve, save that they 
are convinced they don't. Instead of just fixing the problem, I 
generally try to help them find the answer on the 'net or in a manual 
and walk them through the fix. They end up saying something like "I'd 
just assumed I wouldn't understand." And this is often from people 
happily pursuing a PhD (in something non-mathematical).

A funny/sad anecdote to close with:
A number of years ago, when I was just starting my MA at a different 
school, I was TA'ing the advanced logic class. It was an axiomatic 
course, with a fair bit of proof-theory and model-theory, and the bulk 
of the audience was CS-students. (The CS department there required the 
course -- quite the bonus for the Philosophy dept.)

An undergraduate friend of mine was in the course. She happened to be a 
shaved-headed lesbian with a very masculine style of dress. Two CS guys 
were sitting behind us, theorizing about why there were so few women in 
the course. (Said theorizing was most definitely *not* being done in 
what one might call a "welcoming" manner.)

The look on their faces when my friend turned around and confronted them 
  and they realized that she was, indeed, a she, was utterly priceless. 
Didn't make up for having heard them go on (or my discomfort/regret that 
as the TA I'd not been confronting them myself). But it came close.

Best to all,

Brian vdB