My own anecdotes.
Yes, it starts early.
When I was 3 I announced that I was
going to be a physicist when I grew up. WHY?
1 - a physicist has a chair that is
on WHEELS, and spins ROUND and ROUND
2 - a physicist has a blackboard with
COLORED CHALK
3 (and MOST important) a physicist has
a CANDY machine in the hall outside his office.
Well, I didn't become a physicist, but
those features certainly put technology in a good light from an early age.!!
Second, while the statistics may say
something else, I find MORE WOMEN, in MORE RESPECTED positions, at IETF
than in my work environment.
Janet
ietf-bounces@xxxxxxxx wrote on 04/30/2012 10:13:50
AM:
> Mary Barnes <mary.ietf.barnes@xxxxxxxxx>
> Sent by: ietf-bounces@xxxxxxxx
>
> 04/30/2012 10:13 AM
>
> To
>
> Riccardo Bernardini <framefritti@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> cc
>
> IETF discussion list <ietf@xxxxxxxx>
>
> Subject
>
> Re: 'Geek' image scares women away from tech industry ? The Register
>
> Yes, the article is far from complete. But, your antecdote only
> goes to show your own bias towards women in science and engineering
> in general. By the time most females reach high school they
have
> already been conditioned that girls aren't as good as boys in math
> and science. There's a far amount of studies showing this - at least
> in the US. As Monique said it is a very complex issue.
Some of it
> starts at home and it starts extremely early. It's far more
common
> for girls to be told they are pretty rather than smart. They
have
> found some physiologic reasons that do influence math abilities -
> those with "math brains" tend to have higher levels of testosterone.
> That all said, it still doesn't explain why the
percentage of women
> active in the IETF is less than the percentage of women that are in
> the field. But it might have something to do with IETFers sharing
> your perspective that women just aren't interested.
> Regards,
> Mary.
>