Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!ncsuvx!mcnc!ecsvax!jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov
From: tan@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov (Greer Hsing Tan)
Newsgroups: comp.society.women
Subject: Submission for comp-society-women
Message-ID: <6650@ecsvax.UUCP>
Date: 1 Mar 89 18:51:19 GMT
References: <6431@ecsvax.UUCP>
Sender: skyler@ecsvax.UUCP
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.
Lines: 66
Approved: skyler@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Moderator -- Trish Roberts)
Comments-to: comp-women-request@cs.purdue.edu
Submissions-to: comp-women@cs.purdue.edu


In article <6431@ecsvax.UUCP> rch@pyrtech.pyramid.com (Robin Humphrey - SE Denver) writes:
>>>I read the article too, and most of what you say is an accurate
>>>representation of what is in it.
>>>...  It also went on to stress the importance of
>>>role models.  Most successful women in the computer field have
>>>parents, or other mentors who work in the field and
>>>introduced them to computing (with encouraagement) at an early
>>>age. 
>>
>>Hrmph!  How about a local survey of successful women in this newsgroup:
>>Did you have mentors at an early age?  Were they your parents, or others?
>>
>
>I grew up with 3 brothers very close in age and my parents treated us all
>equally.  From them I was encourged to take an aptitude test at age 15 and 
>the results pointed me towards computer engineering work.  They encouraged 
>me to find out if I liked it, so I went to 2 years of technical school
>while I was in high school.  My father was a lifetime IBM'er and felt 
>women made excellent additions to any field and that I to could succeed at
>anything that I wanted if I set my mind to it.  I was *NOT* however encouraged 
>by school counselors or teachers :-( .  It wasn't until I hit the real world
>that I found women were so scarce and men were often not accepting me.  I
>now work in an office of 7 professional men, 1 female receptionist and myself
>a systems engineer :-)
>
>- rch

I grew up with 2 sisters.  Unlike rch, I think that had we had any
sons in the family, everything would have been a lot different.  However,
Since my parent had no son to put into a career and represent our
family (just sort of inbred into the chinese mentality I think)
All three girls were taught that we could do just about anything that
we set our minds to doing.  It sounds a little hokey I know, but my
parents ... especially my mother, used to always say that the shame
was not in failing to achieve our goal, it was in failing to try.
My mother was also a rebel in her time ... a civil engineer and career
minded woman even when she was in Taiwan.  I think being the only
chinese in my school (not counting my sisters) also sheltered me
from discrimination because I was a girl.  It seemed that my being
chinese was the reason that I was different in my love for math and
science.

Mr. Martin Badoain of Canton High School in Canton, Ma was definitely
my mentor even though I had a world of encouragement from my parents
and family.  Mr. B was the head of the math department and coach
of the math team.  Moving to Massachusetts my Freshman year of
high school I think had a very major part in my career development
and decision making.  I think I'd have been an engineer regardless,
but perhaps not as confident about it as I am now.  Canton high school
had a female dominated undefeated math team in all of New England
when I joined in 1980.  I don't think the thought that girls weren't
meant for math or science got introduced to me until College, and
even there ... asian girls were none too rare at MIT.  I think now
I've hit the pressure of the ratio difference a little more, but
becuase of my background, I don't recognize a lot of the prejudices
against me as being a direct result of my being female ... and as
a result, those initial prejudices die pretty fast.  I too work
in a male dominated environment here at JPL ... and because I've
not been taught to think of myself as being different from my
co-workers as far as ability and potential ... I don't think there
has been any obstacles.  I was promoted with 6 months of my
employment here and I don't feel that I've had any constraints or
anything put on me!

Greer