Girls’ advantage in reading can largely explain the gender gap in STEM

Post by em-bee » Thu, Jul 18, 2019, 4:39 AM UTC

Bostonian wrote: post #13

I see vastly more attention given to areas where girls are under-represented, with the belief that such disparities are inequities to be fixed, than I do to areas where males perform worse. It seems that male deficits are largely accepted. Could the male disadvantage in reading be reduced by different instructional methods (more phonics) or with reading material that appeals to boys?

that maybe because at least in the past males were dominating society, so this is more about addressing that domination rather than uneven performance.

in areas where mailes are under-represented (nurses for example, or early childhood teachers) the problem is not males performance but their lack of motivation or lack of encouragement.

Post by flipcoder » Thu, Jul 18, 2019, 7:48 PM UTC

peatmoss wrote: post #34

mac_was wrote: post #26

Maybe just most women aren’t interested in STEM, like most men aren’t interested in hairdressing? Those who are, both men and women, can get jobs as I see women being very good programmers and men being very good hair dressers

We tend to see differences and fit an explanation. - For some, the differences are explainable by completely benign reasons (“girls just aren’t interested / girls have a comparative advantage in non-STEM fields”), - others see a conspiracy of intention (“men are trying to keep women out”), - others see a malevolent but unconscious system (“thoughtless behaviors drive women away”), - others see a relatively benign but…

> I am old enough to remember being bullied in school for being into computers.

Yep, when I was young, even some of my teachers and other adults tried to dissuade me from computers and programming. I remember being mocked and ridiculed by other kids, and no one was incentivizing it when I was in school. If anything, people were avoiding it because it was uncool. I always thought it was the social stigma present in their own peer groups that were keeping them away from it, and not gatekeeping, at least from what I witnessed.

Re: Girls’ advantage in reading can largely explain the gender gap in STEM

Re: Girls’ advantage in reading can largely explain the gender gap in STEM