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From: anny@hpdcdb.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Orphaned Response
Message-ID: <3000004@hpdcdb.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 16-Jun-84 20:21:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: hpdcdb.3000004
Posted: Sat Jun 16 20:21:00 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 27-Jun-84 00:57:14 EDT
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Organization: Hewlett-Packard - Cupertino, CA
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Nf-From: hpdcdb!anny    Jun 20 16:21:00 1984


Subj:  A cheerful counter-example to Ms. Nerads math anxiety anecdote:

There is hope for young women in mathematics and you can help.

I grew up in a small fishing, logging and tourist town where girls
became english teachers, nurses, maids or housewives (not to say 
any of these are bad vocations, the selection was just a little limited).  
Until the 9th grade I was a good student in all areas except for, of course,
mathematics.  In the ninth grade I walked in to my algebra class
(which I had to petition to get into since I got a "C" 8th grade math),
and was astonished to see that the teacher was, oh my God, a WOMAN.

This young woman (she was about 24) had a master's degree in math and
encouraged all of us to pursue technical careers, regardless of gender, 
by talking about her schooling and how much she loved math.  
I don't remember suddenly thinking maybe I could do math, 
but I graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, 
and Math, and an M.S. in Computer Science, and I got straight A's 
in almost (damn, Diff. Eq.) all my math courses from that day on.

In retrospect, I think that actually knowing a woman who could handle
math and seeing her perform in her field sold my on my own abilities.
I would really encourage all women, particularly those in fields
where most positions of filled by men, to make yourselves visible to
young girls, so that they recognize that they are not excluded from
any profession.  

My parents always told my I could be anything I wanted to be, but
I never belived them . . .


Anny Randel
Computer Engineer

hplabs!hpfcla!anny