Men And Women Think Women Are Bad At Basic Math 384
sciencehabit writes "Think women can't do math? You're wrong — but new research (paywalled) shows you might not change your mind, even if you get evidence to the contrary. A study of how both men and women perceive each other's mathematical ability finds that an unconscious bias against women — by both men and women — could be skewing hiring decisions, widening the gender gap in mathematical professions like engineering."
Participation awards for boys! (Score:5, Funny)
Because we all know that women are better than men at some things, but men are never better than women at anything.
Some women are _very_ bad (Score:5, Funny)
My ex-girlfriend was once helped through a math problem by her teacher, and they figured out that the solution was the half of x, so the teacher told her to write that down.
She wrote down '/'.
Re: In my experience (Score:5, Funny)
The older I become, the less significant difference I see between the sexes. Kinda sad?
No, it just means you finally need glasses.
Re:Human Nature (Score:5, Funny)
Citation of reproducible study needed.
Re:Obligatory xkcd (Score:5, Funny)
It's because women's clothes lack pockets (Score:5, Funny)
If their clothes had pockets, they could carry money on their persons and get more counting practice in.
Pockets. Think about it.
Re:Participation awards for boys! (Score:4, Funny)
Because we all know that women are better than men at some things, but men are never better than women at anything.
Umm, ever seen a woman load a dishwasher?
Obviously. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:uhh (Score:4, Funny)
My guess is that this is due to the stereotypical reputations of CS/Engineering (bearded hackers with poor hygiene and huge egos) being less appealing to women than to men.
You also have to take into account the much lower portion of the female population which is capable of growing a good beard. They may be self-selecting out of this profession due to a lack of capability in this area.
Re:Participation awards for boys! (Score:2, Funny)
Well, you can pack a lot more in a dishwasher if getting the stuff actually clean is not a priority.
Re:Participation awards for boys! (Score:2, Funny)
How sexist of you! You must be a White Male Capitalist! You're automatically wrong about... WELL, ABOUT EVERYTHING!!!
> cryingbaby.jpg
All my mom knows how to do is multiply... (Score:5, Funny)
All my mom knows how to do is multiply...but that is why I have seven siblings.
Re:Participation awards for boys! (Score:4, Funny)
Men are better at avoiding work. If you can't pack it all in the dishwasher, you will have extra work to do when you hand wash what doesn't fit.
Re:arithmetic is not math [Re:In my experience] (Score:2, Funny)
No, not just arithmetic, you also learn algebra by rote memorization and constant exercise. With time this helps you to spot regularities and later you are able to see possible solutions in complex mathematical problems.
There are experiments about what helps pupils best to get better with mathematics, and it has been shown that drill and constant exercise is the most effective way, even for complexer mathematical problems.
Rote memorization is also an effective way to learn the rules of grammar. More people should try it.