‘Star Trek’ Jokes in Class Make Women Feel ‘Unwelcome,’ Says University of Washington Prof

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
‘Star Trek’ Jokes in Class Make Women Feel ‘Unwelcome,’ Says University of Washington Prof



“To draw more girls into STEM fields, it’s not enough to provide more learning opportunities,” Cheryan claims. “This geeky image is at odds with the way that many girls see themselves. Work from our lab shows that when high-school girls see Star Trek posters and video games in a computer-science classroom, they are less interested than boys in taking the course.”

Instead, Cheryan says, science classrooms should put up soothing art and nature posters to attract the feminine eye. Cheryan didn’t, of course, determine whether irrelevant posters featuring works of art and fuzzy photos of leaves would have an impact on male interest—or whether she was implicitly stereotyping women as attracted only to typically “beautiful” things.

Cheryan also found that women who had an interaction with a computer science major wearing a “I Code Therefore I Am” t-shirt or who identified Mystery Science Theater as their favorite show, also saw their interest in the major drop, apparently because women are shallow and don’t find geeks attractive.

She suggests that computer science majors try to attract more women by wearing plain tee shirts and liking The Office. Or perhaps they should just wear man-leggings with their “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” t-shirts, and admit to scheduling work hours around Lifetime movie schedules.

The point, lost in Cheryan’s Star Trek screed, of course, may be that tailoring career counseling to individual students and helping them to understand that workplace culture is an aspect of vocational choice, is key to helping both male and female students pursue their individual educational goals.


:lmao:
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
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The irony is that Prof. Cheryan doesn't seem to understand just how sexist she is being by making these gender exclusive value judgments.

Here is her original "study":

http://qz.com/823162/a-new-study-sh...ake-women-feel-unwelcome-in-computer-science/

It is only when an alternate image of computer science is presented by replacing geeky objects with art and nature posters that girls become as interested as boys.
-snip-
The department added art and nature posters throughout their building to make it more inviting.


That is so offensively sexist I don't even know what to say.

Computer science teachers who showcase the ways in which their personalities and interests are broader than the narrow stereotypes may have an easier time convincing girls to follow in their footsteps.

Speaking of narrow stereotypes...

Apparently Prof. Cheryan doesn't watch Big Bang Theory, and is unfamiliar with Leslie the physicist, Amy the neurobiologist, and Bernadette the microbiologist. Three very distinct and diverse women.
 

terbear1225

Well-Known Member
all joking aside, the educational world as a whole could do a lot to encourage more women to enter STEM fields. Putting pretty pictures on the wall is not going to do it though. I do a lot of work with computer science and STEM and Maker Ed. It is frustrating when I am treated like I don't know what I"m talking about based solely on my gender (yes, it does happen.) I cannot tell you how many times I have had to convince a salesperson to talk to me, not my husband.
 

Larry Gude

Strung Out
all joking aside, the educational world as a whole could do a lot to encourage more women to enter STEM fields. Putting pretty pictures on the wall is not going to do it though. I do a lot of work with computer science and STEM and Maker Ed. It is frustrating when I am treated like I don't know what I"m talking about based solely on my gender (yes, it does happen.) I cannot tell you how many times I have had to convince a salesperson to talk to me, not my husband.

Well, what do we do about it? I'm serious.
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
The irony is that Prof. Cheryan doesn't seem to understand just how sexist she is being by making these gender exclusive value judgments.

Here is her original "study":

http://qz.com/823162/a-new-study-sh...ake-women-feel-unwelcome-in-computer-science/

It is only when an alternate image of computer science is presented by replacing geeky objects with art and nature posters that girls become as interested as boys.
-snip-
The department added art and nature posters throughout their building to make it more inviting.


That is so offensively sexist I don't even know what to say.

Exactly. As a woman of science myself and proudly a geek, I can't even wrap my mind around this way of thinking as it is doing the exact opposite for women.

Computer science teachers who showcase the ways in which their personalities and interests are broader than the narrow stereotypes may have an easier time convincing girls to follow in their footsteps.

Speaking of narrow stereotypes...

Apparently Prof. Cheryan doesn't watch Big Bang Theory, and is unfamiliar with Leslie the physicist, Amy the neurobiologist, and Bernadette the microbiologist. Three very distinct and diverse women.

:high5: Women can be feminine AND intelligent.
 

Toxick

Splat
all joking aside, the educational world as a whole could do a lot to encourage more women to enter STEM fields.
Well, what do we do about it? I'm serious.

What do we do indeed?


In all seriousness, I tried so hard to encourage and steer my daughter toward science and math and STEM interests.
She still ended up a cheerleader snapogramming selfies all friggin' day and making googley eyes at One Direction and watches YouTube videos about putting on make up.

Not that I have a problem with that. If it makes her happy, that's all I care about.
But the old adage about horses to water holds true as it always will.

I led and led and led - no drinky.
 

This_person

Well-Known Member
I dont think there is one simple answer. For me personally, its about not assuming level of knowledge based on gender and not equating interest in certain topics as being "a guy thing".

That's fair, but what about making people interested in things they're not really interested in. The thread is about how one lady thinks other ladies won't be interested in science because there aren't pictures of pretty flowers on the wall in science classrooms, but doesn't particularly provide any evidence that will help entice people not inclined to go into STEM fields to suddenly prance into STEM fields.
 

Clem72

Well-Known Member
all joking aside, the educational world as a whole could do a lot to encourage more women to enter STEM fields. Putting pretty pictures on the wall is not going to do it though. I do a lot of work with computer science and STEM and Maker Ed. It is frustrating when I am treated like I don't know what I"m talking about based solely on my gender (yes, it does happen.) I cannot tell you how many times I have had to convince a salesperson to talk to me, not my husband.

Salespersons ignoring you is a completely separate issue from encouraging women in STEM. I would posit that we really can't to a lot more than we already do to encourage women in STEM other than making it mandatory. Boot camps, summer camps, grants, preferential hiring (but don't call it a quota), and "awareness" activities at every turn.

If you don't like Star Trek and are offended by t-shirts that reference coding, perhaps you aren't really interested in the field.

And Nerd culture isn't something that us Nerds came up with to feel special, it was a term of derision applied by people outside of the field. Just because the rest of the popular world has finally caught on that computers/games/technology is "fun/cool" doesn't make it any less so, and we shouldn't have to hide our interests to be more inclusive of people who would otherwise make fun of us if we weren't one of the last bastions to a decent living wage.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
In this day and age we are all well aware that women and men/girls and boys can be anything they want to be and pursue any interest they choose. Women can be scientists, men can be nurses, and there are plenty of examples. I see no need to push anyone into a specific career field just to make a statement. Even when I was in school 35 years ago, there were plenty of girls taking computer classes and in advanced math. Was it 50/50 boys and girls? No, but so what? Smart girls were popular in my school and became the Homecoming princesses and prom court. There was no nerd stigma attached to being brainy, except with the slacker underachievers, and who cares what they think.

I think females are biologically geared toward other roles, and there's nothing wrong with that, nor is there anything wrong with girls who gravitate toward math and science. This professor is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
 
In this day and age we are all well aware that women and men/girls and boys can be anything they want to be and pursue any interest they choose. Women can be scientists, men can be nurses, and there are plenty of examples. I see no need to push anyone into a specific career field just to make a statement. Even when I was in school 35 years ago, there were plenty of girls taking computer classes and in advanced math. Was it 50/50 boys and girls? No, but so what? Smart girls were popular in my school and became the Homecoming princesses and prom court. There was no nerd stigma attached to being brainy, except with the slacker underachievers, and who cares what they think.

I think females are biologically geared toward other roles, and there's nothing wrong with that, nor is there anything wrong with girls who gravitate toward math and science. This professor is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
Bingo! My daughter was wired to love math and science from birth. It was obvious in elementary school and as a result she was very receptive and responsive to pursuing that line of education for the rest of elementary, middle and high public schooling. By that same token she often talked about how obvious it was when fellow students both male and female for being forced to pursue that same education line because they were not learning it/passing without tutoring and parental interference. It really became obvious in college when parents no longer had control. She's seen thousands of dollars wasted on fellow students who couldn't do it without helo-parents and had to change their majors or simply drop out.
 

terbear1225

Well-Known Member
That's fair, but what about making people interested in things they're not really interested in. The thread is about how one lady thinks other ladies won't be interested in science because there aren't pictures of pretty flowers on the wall in science classrooms, but doesn't particularly provide any evidence that will help entice people not inclined to go into STEM fields to suddenly prance into STEM fields.

I dont think we should try to force anyone into a field they arent interested in, and there have been HUGE strides in making STEM fields more approachable to girls. It does still bug me that all the "girl" lego sets are pink and pastel with flowers
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
It does still bug me that all the "girl" lego sets are pink and pastel with flowers

You made me look.

https://www.lego.com/en-us/products

Where did you see pink with flowers? That's a real question because I want to get some for my granddaughter.

Or they could put them in a science classroom to attract girls. :lol: (Sorry, I just think it's hilarious that this professor thinks some girl will decided to become a research chemist because she saw pretty pictures on the wall of the classroom. She goes in...oooh! Kittens! Then is like, what fresh hell is this??? :lmao:)
 
My sis wanted to get her nephew, my son, interested in fantasy stuff and expand his imagination because all he ever wanted to play with was cars, trucks and tractors. For his birthday she bought him the Little Peoples Castle complete with knights, horses and a dragon.

He loved that castle! He used it to park all of his hot wheels in.

When we took him to the MD Renn fest we were walking along enjoying the sites and sounds thinking he'd be fascinated with seeing such stuff for the first time. He turned to us wide eyed and asked us how many truck loads of mulch did we think it took to cover all the walkways.
 
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