Nicoya Helm wrote:
>
> I did get a lot of wonderful exposure at school, but thinking that
> I would never get to take what I was learning and apply it outside of school
> lead to a certain amount of apathy on my part - like "oh, well, I'll never
> get my own computer, why bother learning this stuff (even if I do really dig
> it). I also resented the fact that most of the boys I knew had computers -
> their parents thought it was a great "toy" for them. To make a long story
> short, by the time I graduated college I realized that "it's never too late
> to become what you've always wanted to be (George Elliot)", so I bought my
> very first computer as a graduation gift to myself. Still, I've spent the
> last couple of years feeling very behind, like I'm making up for a lot of
> lost time. It wasn't till I had the maturity and determination to do it on
> my own that I really was able to pursue computers, but I think if I'd had
> more support along the way, esp. from people close to me like teachers and
> family, then I might have graduated with a BS instead of a BA.
I have a question, which I wonder about, but have no insight into due to
my
luck growing up in an excellent environment for fostering geekiness ;)
Have any of you ever felt excluded or neglected in tech classes because
of your
gender? The classes I had in grade school were available to anyone, but
it seemed
like once I got to high school the number of women in any given class
was definately
a minority. At least in 3-6 grade we had LOGO lab and every got to
participate.
However, I never gave much thought to the issue of teacher interaction.
I could see
how a teacher who favors, or gives the impression of favoring male
students over female
would be a big turn off. I never say anything like this happen at my
schools, but I
thought about it either.
Do you feel somewhat aprehensive or uncomfortable in a male mojority
learning environment?
I know that one of the biggest factors for me and learning new skills is
a setting where
i am free to tinker, ask any question that comes to mind, and in
general, intereact freely
with the other people there.
I am curious, as some of the discrimination issues are obvious and well
known (like
prejudiced sterotypes for women in tech) but I often wonder about
secondary, or lesser
known problems which perhaps cause an equal amount of harm at a younger
age, and that most
overlook.
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