On Apr 30, 2012, at 5:31 PM, Janet P Gunn wrote: > 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. Hmmm... when I was young I wanted to be a garbage man... then one day I realized I didn't own the correct gloves, so I decided I would a doctor instead... Apparently that fact that I would A: be able to buy garbage man gloves (or get some provided) and B: doctors also need gloves completely didn't occur to me... :-P W > > 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. > >