Re: [Gendergap] Giving Women the Access Code

Yes, a course for very, very unexperienced programers would be great. And just to continue on that thread about pursuing your passion, I trust you have seen Sir Ken Robinson talk at TED? http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html Med vänliga hälsningar, Lennart Lennart Guldbrandsson, Tfn: 031 - 12 50 48 Mobil: 070 - 207 80 05 Epost: l_guldbrandsson(a)hotmail.com / lennart(a)wikimedia.se Användarsida: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anv%C3%A4ndare:Hannibal Blogg: http://mrchapel.wordpress.com/ Wikimedia Sverige http://wikimedia.se http://www.1av3.se ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2012 10:31:43 -0400 From: sarah.stierch(a)gmail.com To: gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Gendergap] Giving Women the Access Code Nice article, thanks for sharing Lennart! “She was consistently told by teachers in adolescence<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/specialtopic/puberty…er>, then later by colleagues, that the things she was interested in were things women didn’t do, and that there were no good female mathematicians,” Dr. Pippenger said. It's reasoning like this, and the one that you quoted below about stereotypes, kept me from pursuing a degree in computer science. I remember looking into the school when I was a young undergrad and I felt so intimidated, and then was told that I'd have to take certain math classes. Which frustrated me, as I could do basic language coding and write html off the top of my head. I flunked the math classes I had to take, and 10 years later found out I had a math disability. (And it wasn't my parents who were telling me not to do it, it was professors, etc. Regardless of my poor math skills, almost every single person I know who codes jokes that "you don't *need* to know math." Someday I'll take some classes in something (just for fun, I suppose)..or perhaps there will be a "N00bs super simple MediaWiki fun day that even your grandma could learn to code at!" event. I'm not disappointed with how my path curved and turned thus far, but, after reading *Unlocking the Clubhouse*[1] and every time I read an article like this, it just reminds me more and more of the experiences I had as a young person that kept me out of the lab. The odd thing, is that I ended up entering into a field that is upwards of 80% dominated by women. I wonder of computer science can take any cues from museum studies. On that note, I'm sure I'm not the only person on this mailing list that took a different path than the one they wanted due to popular and personal pressure. Sarah [1] http://www.amazon.com/Unlocking-Clubhouse-Computing-Jane-Margolis/dp/026213… On 4/3/12 3:36 AM, Lennart Guldbrandsson wrote: Hello, Via Mike Godwin: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/giving-women-the-access-code.html… <snip> “Most of the female students were unwilling to go on in computer science because of the stereotypes they had grown up with,” said Zachary Dodds, a computer scientist at Mudd. “We realized we were helping perpetuate that by teaching such a standard course.” To reduce the intimidation factor, the course was divided into two sections — “gold,” for those with no prior experience, and “black” for everyone else. Java, a notoriously opaque programming language, was replaced by a more accessible language called Python. And the focus of the course changed to computational approaches to solving problems across science. “We realized that we needed to show students computer science is not all about programming,” said Ran Libeskind-Hadas, chairman of the department. “It has intellectual depth and connections to other disciplines.” </snip> Most of the article is about Dr Maria Klawe, who seems to be a very inspiring person. Best wishes, Lennart Lennart Guldbrandsson, Tfn: 031 - 12 50 48 Mobil: 070 - 207 80 05 Epost: l_guldbrandsson(a)hotmail.com / lennart(a)wikimedia.se Användarsida: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anv%C3%A4ndare:Hannibal<http://sv.wikipedia… Blogg: http://mrchapel.wordpress.com/ Wikimedia Sverige http://wikimedia.se http://www.1av3.se _______________________________________________ Gendergap mailing listGendergap@lists.wikimedia.orghttps://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap -- *Sarah Stierch* *Wikimedia Foundation Community Fellow* << _______________________________________________ Gendergap mailing list Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap _______________________________________________ Gendergap mailing list Gendergap(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap