tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31432976.post8832203274930453865..comments2023-08-10T07:41:11.827-07:00Comments on Bajillion: Breaking: Girls Can Do Math!Tommaso Sciortinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13682166317937996902noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31432976.post-36896370628640758722008-07-26T23:13:00.000-07:002008-07-26T23:13:00.000-07:00The "girls can't do math" side has always relied o...The "girls can't do math" side has always relied on two pieces of evidence: test scores, and under-representation in math and science fields. As an empirical matter, both of those points have always been accurate, but irrelevant, since it's kind of meaningless to say that girls don't want to enter a field that is hostile in many ways to their presence and that they are not encouraged to enter in the first place. (We don't assume that runners with head starts are necessarily any faster than the runners they beat.)<BR/><BR/>But experiment after experiment shows that when you remove institutional and psychological barriers to female participation, female performance matches (and often exceeds) male performance. (See, for instance, research on stereotype threat.)<BR/><BR/>There is a long-running debate over Darwinian evolution by a process of natural selection, but that doesn't tell us much about the relative merits of each side of the argument.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13510253316398518908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31432976.post-89564797504101439882008-07-26T15:34:00.000-07:002008-07-26T15:34:00.000-07:00that's just me. _I_ don't like math. Bret, you kn...that's just me. _I_ don't like math. <BR/><BR/>Bret, you know Tara. The math major. :)heidi heilighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03703305013326947099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31432976.post-40118262394605465582008-07-26T15:11:00.000-07:002008-07-26T15:11:00.000-07:00"putting it to bed" = "seems to settle a long-runn..."putting it to bed" = "seems to settle a long-running debate".<BR/><BR/>I don't really know anything about this debate, but I assumed that since it was long running, this meant at least two sides had merit. <BR/><BR/>I think I probably have a strange view of 'how girls are' because of the industry I work in, but I've always gotten the rough impression that whether they can do it or not, girls tend not to <I>like</I> math. I always assumed that's what the deal was.Brethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01408213733969902155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31432976.post-4712550472756928492008-07-25T20:00:00.000-07:002008-07-25T20:00:00.000-07:00I'm not sure what putting the question "to bed" wo...I'm not sure what putting the question "to bed" would mean, but given the total absence of evidence that girls are any worse at math than boys, I'd say the argument that girls are worse at math than boys is based on nothing but sexism.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13510253316398518908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31432976.post-18249606213934073122008-07-25T15:41:00.000-07:002008-07-25T15:41:00.000-07:00Now, I know two female P.E.s who regularly kick my...Now, I know two female P.E.s who regularly kick my ass up and down the block, so I'll be the last person to say "Haw haw, gurls can't do math!"<BR/><BR/>But a comparative study about math performance that ends with 11th grade (Geometry? Algebra II?) doesn't really put anything to bed at all.Brethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01408213733969902155noreply@blogger.com