Education, politics, and anything else that catches my attention.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Chicks Can't Do Math
At least, they can't if they're told there are innate biological differences in math ability between men and women, according to Canadian researchers.
6 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Well I hope the shrinks went back and undid the damage! Just a passing comment from my mother, when I was about 15, was enough to send me off the rails. I was having trouble in geometry and she said she was never good in math *either* and that was all the excuse I needed. Yet I had done well in math up to that point, simply by hard work.
It's crazy, but there are so many emotional things going on at that age that you seize on any old excuse that's handed to you by adults.
Recently, an economics teacher at my college made a similar comment. The students were understandably livid. I don't understand why he's teaching at Smith of all places if he feels that way, especially since it means he's ignoring about a third of all the women here who major in the sciences.
These 'Chicks' that can do math are usually not a normal chick. Boys tend to do better in logic, but it doesn't show on their grade because girls have the advantages of multitasking and organization. Same thing in class, girls can talk to their neighbor and be listening to the math lecture at the same time, while boys can't. About a hundreth of school seems to involve logic, the rest is just organization and hard working.
6 comments:
Well I hope the shrinks went back and undid the damage! Just a passing comment from my mother, when I was about 15, was enough to send me off the rails. I was having trouble in geometry and she said she was never good in math *either* and that was all the excuse I needed. Yet I had done well in math up to that point, simply by hard work.
It's crazy, but there are so many emotional things going on at that age that you seize on any old excuse that's handed to you by adults.
Recently, an economics teacher at my college made a similar comment. The students were understandably livid. I don't understand why he's teaching at Smith of all places if he feels that way, especially since it means he's ignoring about a third of all the women here who major in the sciences.
Darren,
Do you ever wonder why you are single?
Chicks? I mean really...
"Anonymous said...
Darren,
Do you ever wonder why you are single?
Chicks? I mean really..."
Anon, to borrow a phrase from a great movie of the 80's, '16 Candles'...Chill!
I wouldn't want as a mate anyone who would judge me on so shallow a point, especially given the larger point made in the linked story.
These 'Chicks' that can do math are usually not a normal chick. Boys tend to do better in logic, but it doesn't show on their grade because girls have the advantages of multitasking and organization. Same thing in class, girls can talk to their neighbor and be listening to the math lecture at the same time, while boys can't. About a hundreth of school seems to involve logic, the rest is just organization and hard working.
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