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From: hanrahan@trw-unix.UUCP (Gail Hanrahan)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Is Computing Gender Specific?
Message-ID: <423@trw-unix.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 2-Sep-83 14:49:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: trw-unix.423
Posted: Fri Sep  2 14:49:08 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 4-Sep-83 00:28:33 EDT
Organization: TRW EDS, Redondo Beach, CA
Lines: 17


Paul Borman (stolaf!bormanp) cited a study that stated that on the
average, males had a higher aptitude in [math and mechanics] than 
females.  Did this study also state the average age of the people that 
were tested?  I've seen at least one study that stated that females
on the average did BETTER than males at math -- until they got to 
(approximately) high-school age. At that point females are subtly
(or not-so-subtly, in some cases) discouraged from continuing to
pursue "male" areas of study.  

It hardly seems fair to conclude that more men are better at math
than women when we haven't yet had a generation of women grow up
that were actively encouraged, as men have been all along, to go 
into math, cs, engineering, etc.

-- Gail Hanrahan
   {decvax,ucbvax}!trw-unix!hanrahan