(June 7, 2015 at 8:14 am)TheMessiah Wrote: The critical question is asking women whether they really wan't to get into STEM, rather than making excuses.
Want women in STEM? Encourage them not to opt for useless degrees such as gender studies.
I work in STEM and I'm damn good at it. But it wasn't my first choice.
I first chose a load of soft subjects that I was unsuited for because it never occurred to me to do anything else. I was actually so unsuited that I dropped out and changed my courses with the idea of starting again. This was at A-level in the UK. I was browsing through the list of courses and considering each one more closely and came across computing. It was always my brother's thing but I thought why not me? So I started a computing A-level. I found that I was rather good at it and went on to do a BSc. Then I went on to do an MSc, a PhD, two post-docs, lectured at university and made a whole career in industry.
And the bit I have put in bold is exactly what feminists are suggesting. This is why role models are needed. If I had seen other people like me do computing I would have given it proper consideration to start with and not have had to stay back a year.
The one thing that makes me want to drop out of software engineering / computer science though is that it is male dominated. But if I do then this makes the problem worse for other women.
