Ken Arromdee wrote:
On Wed, 22 Nov 2006, Tony Jacobs wrote:
Some researchers suggest that differences in treatment contribute to girls' lower self-esteem, lower self-confidence, and reduced risk taking.
I gotta say, I just spent 3 years teaching mathematics at a state university where the math department was over 50% female (students, not professors). More of my better students were female, in Calculus, Differential Equations, Group Theory, etc. These were some high self-esteem, confident, risk-taking chicks (to use the PC expression). I realize this school is an exception, but it appears that, at least in some communities, these trends are on the decline.
It's so bad for boys that Newsweek actually published a story about it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10965522/site/newsweek/
"Girl behavior becomes the gold standard," says "Raising Cain" coauthor Thompson. "Boys are treated like defective girls."
A quick Google gives me some links: http://www.washingtontimes.com/specialreport/20060122-120546-2696r.htm
They point out that boys: Receive the majority of D and F grades given to students in most schools, as high as 70 percent. Create 80 percent of classroom discipline problems. Account for 80 percent of high school dropouts. Represent 70 percent of children diagnosed with learning disabilities and 80 percent of those diagnosed with behavioral disorders.
http://www.uaf.edu/northern/schools/myth.html
A very famous article (if you've been following the issue) that also debunks the self-esteem canard.
Are trends changing? Or are we looking at two different issues? The articles I linked focused specifically on how female students were treated as compared to how male students were treated - the self-esteem issue was only "suggested by some researchers" and would not affect the amount of attention given, questions, etc. The ratio of female to male in science and math was also examined, and the studies found fewer females. Computer use in one study was 3:1. From what you are linking here, it appears that overall however males are having difficulties. Is this a pendulum swing, or something else? If males are having more trouble due to information being presented in a fashion calculated to appeal to, and be more easily comprehended, by females, this may be a factor. All of the studies I linked spoke of the importance of presenting material in a fashion which was more directed towards female learning patterns. This may be merely coincidence, and given the limited data there is no way to know - but it is an interesting possibility. If that is the case, then perhaps our male:female ratio of editors is not without benefit - articles will be more likely to be organized to appeal to the male pattern of learning and thinking. It would be helpful to know the causes of the behavior disorders. And once again, while interesting, I cannot see a way to directly correlate this to anything we do on WP. -kc-