On Thu, 17 Feb 2000, Margaret M wrote:
> science courses, though -- Terri, any comments about the CompSci courses at
> high school, or your university?
I'm not terri :P but I did take CS in high school -- first year was
majority guys, but there were five or six other girls -- all of the
others, if I recall correctly, were actually from the sci + tech magnet
school (I took first year as a summer school course -- six hours a day of
programming, plus homework..I loved it :) ) -- second and third year there
was one girl in the class besides me -- I don't remember which year was
which, but one year the teacher jumped a girl who was in first year up
into our class, and the first day she asked how to start windows, and from
that point on I had absolutely no use for her (if memory serves she
dropped out pretty fast, too)..the other year she jumped another girl, but
she was much more clued, so I liked her (I really resented the fact that
the teacher had brought in an unclued female to 'keep me company' -- I"d
probably feel very differently about it now, but we all grow up
eventually, eh? :) )
I went to a dinky college in WV where I was the only girl in CS and one of
three or four in my math class (which wasn't very high level, either --
stats..I didn't want to try to tackle calc my first semester) -- I ended
up coming back and going to Northern Virginia Community college where
there were a number of girls in my calc class -- maybe a third of the
class, which impressed the heck out of me :P
> However, I have never felt excluded or neglected because of my gender.
Really? I've felt excluded, not really neglected, because I tend to learn
in isolation and then go apply it with people (the truth is I just hate
looking like I don't know something ;P ) and (a lot of the time, and this
is a pet peeve) like 'the exception' or 'the wunderkind' (add this to the
fact that I was a full time sysadmin by the time I was 19..and I'm only 21
now, and you might see why I've had enough of the wunderkind thing to last
a lifetime :P )
> Apprehensive? Uncomfortable? No. I'm aware of the fact that it is a male
> majority learning environment, and do miss having other girls in the class,
> but it doesn't make me uncomfortable.
Me neither. It dissappoints me that more girls aren't there, because I
think more girls *should* be there, but in general I'm at least as
aggressive as the boys, and, excepting a few years between the time I was
17 and 20 or so, always have been. Sometimes it's a pain to have other
girls in the class because I have to watch myself or I'll accidently step
on them the same as the boys do, but I have less of an excuse! And on one
hand teachers who stick me with the other girls used to peeve me 'cos I
hated having to constantly watch myself in group situations, but I've
mellowed some in the last year or so, too (scary, eh?)
> 7 guys. Because I don't know any other girls in this city.
I can so relate :P
The only females I ever hang out with here are the avengers, adn they
scare me sometimes :P
> I have never felt at a disadvantage in class because I was female. I think
> it's also what you make of the situation: if you expect to be at a
> disadvantage, you will be.
yes and no. It also helps to be comfortable around guys, and to be
comfortable with the extra agressiveness -- what I've found is that I'm
very good around guys because I know how to 'read' them -- I know male
social cues in a way I don't know how to read female social cues --
obviously interests (beyond computing and math and science) in common help
too -- with the exception of politics (which, depending on where I am and
what I'm up to, can be mostly male, mostly female or very mixed), my
hobbies are *very* male dominated, and as a kid, all my friends were guys.
In primarily male situations (whether social, academic or work) I'm very
comfortable..put me in a primarily female situation, and I'll go hide
under the table..literally, sometimes :P (seriously..I have a spot at a
friend's house that's between the TV cart and the fireplace, nicely hidden
and hiding, 'cos it makes me feel better when there's ten other women in
the room :P )..I can definetly see how other women (maybe most other
women, even) might be uncomfortable, were the situations reversed...
and now we know why I can never find a date :P
Vinnie
************
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