Girls and technical sciences
After studying the faculty of the CMC for more than four years, for some reason I never thought about why only 20% of girls are in my faculty? Moreover, I would be very surprised if there were more of them. But recently I wondered why this situation developed. From the side of teachers I have never seen any special relationship with female students - everyone is equal for a teacher. This unspoken rule is strongly supported. So why are girls who want to get higher education in the field of information technology so little? In order to reinforce my thoughts, I conducted an online survey among female students of various profiles. After analyzing the results, my opinion regarding the question was only strengthened. In my survey participated 204 girls, 80 of whom study in one of the following profiles:
1. Cryptography;
2. Computer science;
3. Mechanics;
4. Mathematics.
The rest - by profiles of natural, human and social sciences.
')
In some places I will give the results of the survey, which seemed interesting to me.
In our country there is a common stereotype that a woman should be a keeper of the home and devote her entire adult life to raising children and maintaining the atmosphere in the house. Many young girls do not want to get higher education, arguing that they only waste their time, because in order to maintain comfort in their home, you do not need to graduate from the university. Some of them still get higher education "for show". 22% of girls studying for non-technical specialties want to fully devote themselves to the hassle of home after graduation; among the technical profiles - there were no such girls. For some reason, many girls cannot imagine that education, career, and household chores can be successfully combined without harming any of these activities.
Another stereotype, which, in my opinion, greatly influences the choice of girls is not at all in favor of technical sciences, this is the division of training profiles into “female” and “male”. They begin to mention such a division even at school, so on a subconscious level, children divide objects into those that they can “do” by their gender, and into those that “cannot”. In support of my words, I can say that the question “Why did you not choose a technical specialty?” Many girls answered that it was “not like a woman.” 25% of female students believe that women have no place in math and programming.
There is another opinion of the majority of girls (and not only girls) that it is at times more difficult to study technical specialties than anywhere else. It seems to me that if you enjoy the subject, but because of fear you choose a university in a completely different profile, then you will spend much more effort on learning and, in addition, to torment yourself with doubts about the correctness of your choice.
Conducting in computer training, telling about computer technology, you can attract more girls to this area. Unfortunately, now in schools that subject, which is called Information Computer Technologies (ICT), is very narrow and uninformative (if you don’t take, of course, specialized schools). Most often, ICT comes down to teaching a child to turn on a computer, using a text editor and an Internet browser.
In the modern world, where there are a lot of fantastic literature and movies connected with programming in one way or another, children expect from the subject of ICT something more than work in a text editor. In support of my words, I can say that of all the girls surveyed, only 3% said that ICT was one of their favorite subjects at school, all of which were girls from specialized schools, where ICT is one of the main subjects.
If I were on the site of the dean of any faculty related to information technology, I would conduct special trainings for children in schools. Programming is a kind of creativity. If you show this to elementary school students, then the interest in this subject will be enormous. After all, if you look at the elementary school program, there are a lot of subjects that require fantasy. Children expect it from every subject. Such trainings would arouse further interest in the subject.
Unfortunately, in our country there is another very unpleasant stereotype: only children from specialized schools can enter technical universities. After analyzing the schools of my classmates, I found out that 76% of them attended specialized schools or classes. To my question for the girls, what prevented them from choosing a technical profile,
many people said that they were not from special schools, which means that they have no chance of success in programming. It turns out that because of this stereotype, the girls even deprived themselves of the opportunity to try to enroll in a technical college, although about half of them with pleasure want and will attend programming courses.
Now let us pay attention to the topic that would seem to be completely unrelated to training in technical specialties - sports. After a hard school day, most students are looking for a holiday in sport. What was my surprise when I saw the list of sports sections intended for my faculty: handball, football, sambo, armwrestling (agree that these sports are not for girls at all); athletics, skiing, volleyball, basketball (already better, but the girl's eye is still not very catchy); The latest on the list was sports aerobics. It is not difficult to guess where almost all my classmates have signed up. It turned out that not everything is so simple. Due to the fact that our faculty is “male”, only 10 girls could get into the section. The rest had to look for work in other sections. But many other faculties had a completely different sports program: it was sports aerobics, and rhythmic gymnastics, and gymnastics, and all sorts of dances. In a word, I would add more sports in which students could find themselves.
Are girls of technical specialties satisfied with their university studies? The answer struck me, only 40% are satisfied with their education, the rest are dreaming of changing a lot and will be happy to change their profile to get a master’s degree or postgraduate study. Russian students are dissatisfied with the lack of practice - both summer and during their studies. Each of them wants to work in their specialty, but the university does not offer anything after graduation. 55% of female students believe that public opinion underestimates females who work according to their chosen technical profile and this prevents them from achieving success in their studies.
It seems to me that if the situation had changed in the following areas:
1. Developing trainings and computer schools at higher educational institutions would appear in schools;
2. In universities, practice appeared in core subjects;
3. The problems with the employment of graduates of technical universities would be solved, because such bright minds would be useful in any company (for me it is strange that my university, for example, still does not do this);
4. There would be conditions for female students to play sports, because they, too, should have a chance to strengthen their health and enjoy it.
Whatever the situation now, I sincerely hope that the girls will no longer be afraid to try themselves in those professions that are still considered “male”.
1. Cryptography;
2. Computer science;
3. Mechanics;
4. Mathematics.
The rest - by profiles of natural, human and social sciences.
')
In some places I will give the results of the survey, which seemed interesting to me.
In our country there is a common stereotype that a woman should be a keeper of the home and devote her entire adult life to raising children and maintaining the atmosphere in the house. Many young girls do not want to get higher education, arguing that they only waste their time, because in order to maintain comfort in their home, you do not need to graduate from the university. Some of them still get higher education "for show". 22% of girls studying for non-technical specialties want to fully devote themselves to the hassle of home after graduation; among the technical profiles - there were no such girls. For some reason, many girls cannot imagine that education, career, and household chores can be successfully combined without harming any of these activities.
Another stereotype, which, in my opinion, greatly influences the choice of girls is not at all in favor of technical sciences, this is the division of training profiles into “female” and “male”. They begin to mention such a division even at school, so on a subconscious level, children divide objects into those that they can “do” by their gender, and into those that “cannot”. In support of my words, I can say that the question “Why did you not choose a technical specialty?” Many girls answered that it was “not like a woman.” 25% of female students believe that women have no place in math and programming.
There is another opinion of the majority of girls (and not only girls) that it is at times more difficult to study technical specialties than anywhere else. It seems to me that if you enjoy the subject, but because of fear you choose a university in a completely different profile, then you will spend much more effort on learning and, in addition, to torment yourself with doubts about the correctness of your choice.
Conducting in computer training, telling about computer technology, you can attract more girls to this area. Unfortunately, now in schools that subject, which is called Information Computer Technologies (ICT), is very narrow and uninformative (if you don’t take, of course, specialized schools). Most often, ICT comes down to teaching a child to turn on a computer, using a text editor and an Internet browser.
In the modern world, where there are a lot of fantastic literature and movies connected with programming in one way or another, children expect from the subject of ICT something more than work in a text editor. In support of my words, I can say that of all the girls surveyed, only 3% said that ICT was one of their favorite subjects at school, all of which were girls from specialized schools, where ICT is one of the main subjects.
If I were on the site of the dean of any faculty related to information technology, I would conduct special trainings for children in schools. Programming is a kind of creativity. If you show this to elementary school students, then the interest in this subject will be enormous. After all, if you look at the elementary school program, there are a lot of subjects that require fantasy. Children expect it from every subject. Such trainings would arouse further interest in the subject.
Unfortunately, in our country there is another very unpleasant stereotype: only children from specialized schools can enter technical universities. After analyzing the schools of my classmates, I found out that 76% of them attended specialized schools or classes. To my question for the girls, what prevented them from choosing a technical profile,
many people said that they were not from special schools, which means that they have no chance of success in programming. It turns out that because of this stereotype, the girls even deprived themselves of the opportunity to try to enroll in a technical college, although about half of them with pleasure want and will attend programming courses.
Now let us pay attention to the topic that would seem to be completely unrelated to training in technical specialties - sports. After a hard school day, most students are looking for a holiday in sport. What was my surprise when I saw the list of sports sections intended for my faculty: handball, football, sambo, armwrestling (agree that these sports are not for girls at all); athletics, skiing, volleyball, basketball (already better, but the girl's eye is still not very catchy); The latest on the list was sports aerobics. It is not difficult to guess where almost all my classmates have signed up. It turned out that not everything is so simple. Due to the fact that our faculty is “male”, only 10 girls could get into the section. The rest had to look for work in other sections. But many other faculties had a completely different sports program: it was sports aerobics, and rhythmic gymnastics, and gymnastics, and all sorts of dances. In a word, I would add more sports in which students could find themselves.
Are girls of technical specialties satisfied with their university studies? The answer struck me, only 40% are satisfied with their education, the rest are dreaming of changing a lot and will be happy to change their profile to get a master’s degree or postgraduate study. Russian students are dissatisfied with the lack of practice - both summer and during their studies. Each of them wants to work in their specialty, but the university does not offer anything after graduation. 55% of female students believe that public opinion underestimates females who work according to their chosen technical profile and this prevents them from achieving success in their studies.
It seems to me that if the situation had changed in the following areas:
1. Developing trainings and computer schools at higher educational institutions would appear in schools;
2. In universities, practice appeared in core subjects;
3. The problems with the employment of graduates of technical universities would be solved, because such bright minds would be useful in any company (for me it is strange that my university, for example, still does not do this);
4. There would be conditions for female students to play sports, because they, too, should have a chance to strengthen their health and enjoy it.
Whatever the situation now, I sincerely hope that the girls will no longer be afraid to try themselves in those professions that are still considered “male”.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/242505/
All Articles