(July 29, 2014 at 5:49 pm)Alice Wrote:(July 29, 2014 at 8:50 am)Natachan Wrote: You clearly do not work in science or heavy industry. As a civil engineer, we get the short end of the stick.
I'm a set-gillnet commercial fisherman. I like to believe that my operation of heavy equipment between that and the various construction jobs I do up here would be counted under 'heavy industry'... but then I do have the paralyzing fear of heights, which makes it difficult to work on building a multistory house without a harness or even a stable ladder (let alone a stairway) up the thing...
And regardless... the social benefits we enjoy are incredible. There are advantages to being a woman, and there are advantages to being a man... and while in any given category one might stand a head above the other: in the end, our net advantages are quite nearly equal.
... Why would women have a short stick in science?
This is just in my experience, but in math and science courses you are expected to be not as good as the male counterparts. as such many professors tend to overlook female students in favor of male students. In their defense, I don't think they're intentionally shunning women, I think it's unconscious. You CAN get attention and recognition in math and science, but you have to be spectacular to do so. there's also pay disparities and professional opportunity differences. I am rarely, if ever, invited into the field to collect samples for the DOT. This is despite the fact that I am going to be the one processing them. Professional engineering societies are largely populated by men, and the ones I've tried to get involved in have been....less than welcoming.
