81–90 of 165 posts
I have yet to be told why it is important for there to be as many women in STEM as men apart from statements that I'm sexist for not knowing
The closer your field's demographics are to your society's, the lower the risk of (unconscious) bias is. Science as a whole should strive to be as unbiased as possible, as that's the closest we can get to objectivity. The same logic applies to businesses, to reduce the risk of making mistakes that come with echo chambers.
If we state that bias is a risk then we must conclude that around 90% of the population work in echo chambers (more if we find that 60/40 is still quite bad segregation) and could use the benefit of reduced risk of mistakes. It would be interesting to hear what suggestions people have to address this generally so that the 88.4% of men and 88.6% women can reduce the risk.
I have yet to be told why it is important for there to be as many women in STEM as men apart from statements that I'm sexist for not knowing
For the same reason its important for there to be as many women in mining, oil rigging, heavy industry, and forestry.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The closer your field's demographics are to your society's, the lower the risk of (unconscious) bias is. Science as a whole should strive to be as unbiased as possible, as that's the closest we can get to objectivity. The same logic applies to businesses, to reduce the risk of making mistakes that come with echo chambers.
> The closer your field's demographics are to your society's, the lower the risk of (unconscious) bias is. That's only true if all biases cancel each other out perfectly.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looks like offering childcare onsite could alleviate some of this at least in the early years —but may only postpone the inevitable departure. As far as I understand it even at these high perk Santa Clara/Silicon Valley companies childcare isn’t a given. There are waiting lists and other limits. They want to attract women, but they fall short on this aspect.
Theres also plenty of evidence that children flourish way more under the guardianship of parents* rather than at least traditional day care. Having kids should push you out of full time work because raising kids is its own nigh-full time job. The real problems are A. the number of people who can actually do that is way below replacement rates on the current population and B. women are still dropping their workforce p…
I have yet to be told why it is important for there to be as many women in STEM as men apart from statements that I'm sexist for not knowing
What we need is equality of opportunity.
We don't need to even strive for a 50/50 M/F split in STEM, parenting, dance, healthcare, martial arts, etc. for everything we do in society. The majority of men and women might have very different interests and we want people doing what they're interested in and what gives them joy, not pushing them to do something the majority of their gender isn't usually interested in.
But, when it's not close to a 50/50 split it's fair to ask why. Are men and women being given the same opportunity to join and be successful?
If it's because men and women on average are different then nothing is wrong. But if it's because men aren't hiring women because of a bias then something is wrong.
And historically we've been willing to give special treatment to those who are underrepresented to help correct past biases.
So, yes the pendulum might swing from a bias to a quota before it goes back to equality. We see this in college admissions and people are starting to want to swing it back to equality which is fine once the initial biases in the system become rare enough that striving for diversity becomes the biggest bias in the system.
Of course this is very difficult to measure and is largely influenced by culture and wether you've historically received preferential or biased treatment.
I have yet to be told why it is important for there to be as many women in STEM as men apart from statements that I'm sexist for not knowing
Equality of outcome is a fool's errand and a quick path to authoritarianism. What we need is equality of opportunity. We don't need to even strive for a 50/50 M/F split in STEM, parenting, dance, healthcare, martial arts, etc. for everything we do in society. The majority of men and women might have very different interests and we want people doing what they're interested in and what gives them joy, not pushing them…
I have yet to be told why it is important for there to be as many women in STEM as men apart from statements that I'm sexist for not knowing
you definitely sound it... its not so much about having the same number as it is about providing the same opportunities. If new moms had the same support, be it from family members and their communities, they would be less likely to leave their positions. Some things that would help in my opinion as a mother: affordable and accessible day care including back up care, at least 12 months maternity leave, flexible work…
I like common theories in order to explain similar data, so what theory can we make in order to explain why being a minority gender, for example women in science and men in the teaching profession, both tend to leave their positions in greater rate than the majority gender? A lack of support from family members and communities? I find that possible but a bit grim given how universal gender segregation is with about 90% of all employed here in Sweden.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you are wrong to claim current business practice as "sexist". Ideally, it would be nice for single parenting be as easy as traditional family, but in reality, nobody is entitled to easy life. Traditionally, people can also help each other through big family, church and other local communities. The new generation does not want to be involved in any of these. Now they want the government and their employers to…
What evidence do you have that current business practice that parent comment is facing and calling "sexist" is not sexist? Parent comment does not elaborate on the sexism she faces. You should be comfortable saying this only if you know that every aspect of current business practice is not sexist.
~ Do you have any evidence showing single dads get better treatment than single moms?