It would have been interesting to control for wealth. Unless I missed it in the article, it could be valuable to analyze a group of countries deemed "rich", but with low gender equality (I don't really even know how the latter is calculated).
Countries with more gender equality have fewer female STEM grads
11–20 of 310 posts
Re: Countries with more gender equality have fewer female STEM grads
#12"If governments want to increase women’s participation in STEM, a more effective strategy might be to target the girls who are clearly being lost from the STEM pathway – those for whom science and maths are their best subjects and who enjoy it but still don’t choose it"
I don't understand why we should try to make somebody choose a subject they didn't choose to do.
Re: Countries with more gender equality have fewer female STEM grads
#13I wonder if it's possible that men and women, on average, have differing criteria for choosing careers, and artificially forcing the distributions towards the middle might do more harm than good.
[deleted]
Re: Countries with more gender equality have fewer female STEM grads
#14> Girls also tended to register a lower interest in science subjects. These differences were near-universal across all the countries and regions studied. So girls are less interested in these subjects, but in more unequal countries (read poorer) they do it for career prospects, while in more equal countries (read richer) they do what they want (not STEM subjects).
No sure why you were down voted, it's a reasonable point that women have more economically viable career choices in countries with better gender equality.
Re: Countries with more gender equality have fewer female STEM grads
#15The defensive tone of this article is alarming. If you don't study computer science now you will likely be in the same boat 30 years from now with illiterate folks of today. Disparity in computer science education in Western countries puts women at a massive economic disadvantage and is a major geopolitical risk. Arguing that women naturally prefer non-STEM fields is sexist and dangerous. Helping drive up the numbers of women and other underrepresented populations in CS should be a major priority for developed countries.
Re: Countries with more gender equality have fewer female STEM grads
#16However you feel about Jordan Peterson, he brings up this fact all the time, esp w/ regards to Scandinavia, would define this phenomenon as the difference between equality of opportunity vs equality of outcome, and that the genders, when provided the option, tend towards different preferences (e.g. bricklayers vs nurses), and that environment factors can skew these natural preferences in either direction.
raises the question of _why_ women in these egalitarian societies are currently are selecting against STEM. Because for example there are plenty of female accountants, which is not normally thought of as a "people" business. So perhaps the environmental factors could change the preferences.
Whether the overall result is preferable for society, I have no idea.
Re: Countries with more gender equality have fewer female STEM grads
#17"If governments want to increase women’s participation in STEM, a more effective strategy might be to target the girls who are clearly being lost from the STEM pathway – those for whom science and maths are their best subjects and who enjoy it but still don’t choose it" I don't understand why we should try to make somebody choose a subject they didn't choose to do.
well making Engineering and Science careers as well rewarded and give them the same social status as say the Law, Medicine are might help.
Those young women with triple A's beloved of headline writers come exam time are making a rational decision not to go into a field where they are badly paid.
Re: Countries with more gender equality have fewer female STEM grads
#18> Girls also tended to register a lower interest in science subjects. These differences were near-universal across all the countries and regions studied. So girls are less interested in these subjects, but in more unequal countries (read poorer) they do it for career prospects, while in more equal countries (read richer) they do what they want (not STEM subjects).
No sure why you were down voted, it's a reasonable point that women have more economically viable career choices in countries with better gender equality.
It's also very similar to the point raised in the original article:
> The researchers, from Leeds Beckett University and the University of Missouri, believe this might be because countries with less gender equality often have little welfare support, making the choice of a relatively high-paid STEM career more attractive.
Re: Countries with more gender equality have fewer female STEM grads
#19Too many political article today on HN. This, code of conduct, fake news, peter theil ect
Just click on "flag". They disappear soon enough.
Re: Countries with more gender equality have fewer female STEM grads
#20"If governments want to increase women’s participation in STEM, a more effective strategy might be to target the girls who are clearly being lost from the STEM pathway – those for whom science and maths are their best subjects and who enjoy it but still don’t choose it" I don't understand why we should try to make somebody choose a subject they didn't choose to do.
Imagine a subject only sociopaths are willing to take. I see good reasons why the society might want to change the framework so that even non-sociopaths take that subject.
Now, neither men nor women are sociopaths, but they are different. They have different behaviour towards risks, on average, among other things. That gives reasons for the society to work on having both genders in every subject.