WisCon, in addition to being the annual Wisconsin SF convention, is
the world's leading (oldest and biggest) feminist SF convention. They
have a separate academic track, and one presenter today described a
finding in a European Union study that there is a correlation between
access to the Internet and a decision not to major in Computer Science
(but only Comp Sci, not Engineering, Math, etc.). The author's theory
is that women's exposure to what she describes as "the prominent
Western kyriarchal computing culture visible on the Internet" "becomes
central to the decision" not to enroll in Computer Science classes.
The author, as I said, has agreed to send me a copy of the final
paper, so that I may share it with the GENDERGAP folks, as I feel it's
deeply relevant to our task here.
(For those of you who have never been to a science fiction convention,
and have perhaps been misled by what the mass media portrays as
"science fiction conventions": THIS is part of what we do here in
Wisconsin; and there's not a pair of Spock ears in sight.)
--
Michael J. "Orange Mike" Lowrey
"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food
and clothes."
-- Desiderius Erasmus