[Edu-sig] My Opinion

[Kirby Urner]

>computers don't spark many girls' interests.  Maybe it
>is because girls (and women) do not want to risk being
>called a computer geek.  I believe that much of the
>female gender cares a lot about their image . . . and
>to be called a geek would be horrible. 

I think of Sandra Bullock in 'The Net', or the 
Seven-of-Nine character in 'Voyager' -- geeks?[1][2]

It's not just computing, but across the board in
engineering, that we have a shortage of women 
wanting to play with what have stereotypically
been typecast as "boy toys" (many exceptions of
course).

I think the demographics are changing, and we 
have a lot more examples of women in technology 
fields every day.  Am I right?  

If high tech goes more towards the civilian sector, 
providing more attractive alternatives to weaponry
training, maybe the situation will continue to 
improve.

Historically, the best, highest tech toys have tended 
to be intimately involved in killingry (vs. livingry).

Violence and mayhem have usually been more guy-oriented, 
given they seem to be the more dispensible/replacable 
half of the species.

Kirby

[1] http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0800141768.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif
[2] http://www.sherylfranklin.com/trekwomen_seven.html