[UbuntuWomen] Women learn more slowly, or can't learn, about computer science?

[Meg Kurdziolek]

First off, I think you are right  : Women can learn computer science
just as well and just as quickly as men.

I suspect that gender can effect styles of communication and styles of
learning, but this does not equate to one gender being better than the
other.

However, some women and men can be intimidated by a tutor of the
opposite sex. I used to tutor for CS classes when I was an undergrad,
and some male students were uncomfortable around me it seemed, whereas
many of the female students sought me out because they were more
comfortable around me.

I'm not quite sure how you should handle this in the future. Perhaps
you could explain that you don't feel that gender is the deciding
factor in your ability to learn technical skills, but that everyone
has different learning styles and some students could benefit from
more one-on-one practice.

~Meg

On Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 4:13 PM, Ryan Prior <ryanprior at gmail.com> wrote:
> The other day, while meeting in a formal setting with some of my peers in my
> school's computer science department, I offered to tutor somebody who had
> sent out a distressed email. The student who needs help is a female
> non-engineering major who is taking a C++ course and is struggling. Nobody
> else seemed to have time or interest, and I was told I would be put in touch
> with her.
>
> However, later on and in an informal setting, one of the women in the group
> told me something like "you know, women learn computer science more slowly,
> and I'm worried that you will take a pace that is too fast for [the student
> who needs help]."
>
> This was, I judged, an insinuation that it would have been preferable to
> have a female tutor for this female student and that, as a male, I am
> somehow less qualified to render assistance. I challenged the comment with
> one like "I doubt it will be an obstacle - I think that women can learn
> computer science and I'm happy to give some individual assistance to this
> person."
>
> I was surprised at the hostile response I got. I was told that I am wrong,
> that many women can't learn to master computers or have greater difficulty
> doing so, and that just because I am smart enough to learn the technical
> details of programming languages does not mean that I should hold other
> people (especially my female peers) to that expectation.
>
> Perhaps needless to say, I have not been put in contact with the student who
> asked for help. I sincerely hope that somebody else decided to volunteer her
> time.
>
> It would not have been the first time I've tutored a female peer, and I feel
> that I was treated unfairly in the situation, but it's left me somewhat
> shaken. I've got a lot of questions, and I'd be interested to hear what
> people in this group have to say.
>
> It may be that I reacted in a sexist or macho or otherwise alienating way
> that I'm too obtuse to realize. Is that an experience others have had? Are
> many young women intimidated by their male peers? Is the opinion that women
> need to be treated differently in computer science education widespread?
> What should I do in the future if confronted with the same attitude?
>
> Thanks for your time,
> Ryan
>
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