Re: How To Recruit Women to Tech and IT Classes

[Jim Green <JMGreen@SISNA.COM>]

Fran says --

> ....  I love physics, and I know other women who love physics.  But I do
> not want a PhD in it, nor do I want to get one.  Is it because a
> particular person "anti-promoted" physics to me?  No.  It is the system
> and process.  I like having a social life, for one thing.  I like earning
> enough money to go out to dinner and go on vacation.  This is tough in
> graduate school.  I also have a clear idea of how I learn best and what
> teaching styles I respond to best, and while problem sets are somewhat
> useful, they are not MOST useful, or efficient, at helping me
> understand.  Also, when I was an undergraduate I always knew I wanted to teach.

Fran!!  This is not a gender specific story!  Men have to think through the
same issues.  Certainly _I_ did.  And _I_ am not sure it was worth it,  Oh
yes, I enjoy physics research and teaching.   But I often think how much
time I spent away from my family -- and how poorly I was paid -- calculated
from time of batchelors.

If a woman came to me and asked about entering physics as a profession, I
would be sure to paint as clear a picture ass possible.  It takes more time
and effort and more grief to become a good physicist than to become a MD
(but I agree that is not saying very much).  Physicists are not well
paid,  They have a very narrow employment spectrum (as opposed to say
lawyers -- ok ok ok who would want to become a lawyer?!  Oops, sorry to the
lawyers here.)  And they are not "scarce" -- ie admirable employment is not
at all guaranteed.  I would counsel the woman to be very sure about her
motivation.   And she should heavily consider her familial needs.

BUT I would counsel a man in roughly the same terms.

HS teachers generally make more money than college professors.  But their
students are generally harder to deal with.

Industrial engineers with less formal education make more money than their
fellow physicists, but they are often treated with less respect.

All in all, if any person wants to major in physics more power to them: I
would help all I can.  But recruit them -- either male or female??  I donno.

And the idea that there should be anything like equal numbers of male and
women in any aspect of physics I feel is nonsense.

Now for a final thought and then I an finished with this thread for this
year:  If there is anything to the leftbrain/rightbrain ideas, women, on
the average, ought to be better physicists than men.  The fact that there
are fewer women physicists than men may simply mean that on the average
they have better sense than men.

Now live with it!


Jim Green
mailto:JMGreen@sisna.com
http://users.sisna.com/jmgreen