[UbuntuWomen] 'Stereotype Threat': Why Women Quit Science Jobs

[Marcilla Smith]

Hello =]

This will be a very "non-corporate" response, but if I may attempt to cut through the BS and get down to the heart of the matter...

"Men" (as a group) may tend to be more knowledgeable about mathematics and math-intensive subjects (in no small part due to cultural indoctrination [ie "math is hard" Barbie]), but "Women" (as a group) tend to be more knowledgeable on intuitive social matters (because they have to be to survive). I think most people would readily agree with this so far.


These characteristics being the preconditions, what I observe is that when a new field of tech, science, mathematics, FINANCE, even, opens up, the [white] boys surge in [NOTE: I am writing from a North American perspective], relatively confident they will find some success (presumably), and emboldened by all the idea that they must be in the right place because (presumably) most everyone else looks like them.

Now at some point, one of the more flamboyantly-dressed dudes says, "hey, don't we need to get us some Women and People of Color?" After some grumbling and murmuring, there is some agreement (however unenthusiastic). 


But we won't be seeing Gloria Steinem or Malcolm X hired, and you can totally right off Angela Davis. The first Wom(a/e)n hired will be more like Scarlett O'Hara, and like Miss Scarlett, they will tend to bedazzle, charm, and manipulate, but they certainly have little desire for competition to be "belle of the ball."

If, on the other hand, the white guys in charge are thinking two steps ahead, Maybe they bring in more of an Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O'Donnell, or even Roseanne Barr type who will actually interject new ideas, or if they're really feeling like shaking things up, a Wanda Sykes.

I guess what I'm saying is that more important than simply getting more Women into an organization, you need more Women's opinions, and to get that, an organization is going to need to seek out those "harder" Female types (Studs, Butches, etc).

Now, to a white dude hiring manager, I might suggest reading some Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Andrea Dworkin, or other Womanist and Feminist writings - blogs can be good, too, but tend to assume some kind of background in the linguistics of the ideology - in order to feel more comfortable relating to the experience and thinking of these humans who are rendered in the minds of most white dudes as some strange "other" through the indoctrinating effects of the dominant culture.

And if you're lucky enough to have one of us Trannies apply - F2M or M2F - absolutely grab hold and then prepare for a potentially wild ride, because the turn of phrase ain't "drama QUEEN" for no reason ;)

But again, it has to begin with a desire for new ideas, not just "more people with tits."

M =]

PS That was vulgar and blunt, and now you have it =]



________________________________
 From: Fred H Olson <fholson at cohousing.org>
To: Ubuntu Women <ubuntu-women at lists.ubuntu.com> 
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2012 6:32 PM
Subject: [UbuntuWomen] 'Stereotype Threat': Why Women Quit Science Jobs
 
Here is a report broadcast on US Public Radio about a study that tries
to explain why fewer women than men seem to go into fields involving
science, engineering, technology and mathematics.

   'Stereotype Threat': Why Women Quit Science Jobs

    by Shankar Vedantam (On twitter: "hiddenbrain" (?))
                         ( maybe this is one of the researchers)

http://s.coop/womenscience   Short URL to:
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/12/156664337/stereotype-threat-why-women-quit-science-jobs

Tho it suggests a mechanism, it does not so far offer a strategy for
changing the numbers.  The conclusions include:


The study suggests the gender disparity in science and technology may
be, at least in part, the result of a vicious cycle.

In order to boost the numbers of women who choose to go into those
fields, you have to boost the number of women who are in those fields.

Comments?

FRed

--
Fred H. Olson  Minneapolis,MN 55411  USA        (near north Mpls)
     Email:        fholson at cohousing.org      612-588-9532
My Link Pg: http://fholson.cohousing.org         My org:
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