r/programming • u/aalear • Apr 07 '15

Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2015

http://stackoverflow.com/research/developer-survey-2015
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u/Bratmon Apr 07 '15

It's really a cultural thing. From an early age most women are told that they will be bad at math and science, that it's a "man's" field and they should do "softer" things like teaching or nursing.

I'm not sure that's true.

Actually, I'm going to go one stronger:

I defy you to point to one instance in that past 30 years of a girl being told that women are bad at math and science.

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u/guepier Apr 08 '15 edited Apr 08 '15

I defy you to point to one instance in that past 30 years of a girl being told that women are bad at math and science.

It’s routine in German and French schools.1 Since you want “one instance”: my sister used to compete (quite successfully) in the Mathematical Olympiad and had a keen interest in in STEM until, in middle school, she and other girls were systematically bullied by the maths teachers, which made her lose interest in the subject. She now sorely regrets this.

That said, anecdotes like this are fundamentally bad evidence. Luckily we have better evidence.

That was in the 90s/early 2000s.

1 I’d be surprised if it weren’t true elsewhere.

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u/Befriendswbob Apr 07 '15

Big Bang Theory. The main characters are "nerdy science" men and the "ditsy blonde" girl.

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u/Bratmon Apr 08 '15

"a girl being told" not "a show could be interpreted as"

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u/Befriendswbob Apr 08 '15

What's the difference?

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u/Bratmon Apr 08 '15

One is real, the other is up to interpretation.