No, actually the fact that women choose STEM least where they have most freedom to choose supports the ample evidence that men and women have different interests on average. https://twitter.com/inquirer2772/status/959605964273016834 …
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People usually don’t mention computing underwent a complete revolution in the late 80s and the field of comp sci changed drastically with the introduction of the microprocessor. Nothing pre-microprocessor would be considered a computer in the modern sense.
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Sorry, late 70s
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..and I suspect that a generation of boys who got interested via 1980s home computers could be a big factor. Use of %ages in that graph may obscure that "growth spurt".
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yes, that chart above is too simple to see patterns. See this one and the patterns are more clear:pic.twitter.com/Y3f2ejGV1Q
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Since total (US) female labor force participation hasn't changed much since the late 80s, it wouldn't be reasonable to expect increasing female presence everywhere. Some shift of preferences seems normal.https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300002 …
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There are simply different preferences. I saw this quote (from a biologist I think?), "sexual dimorphism doesn't stop at the neck." Go to a physics conference ~90% male, especially areas relying on abstract math. Go to a veterinary conference or teacher's conference ~80% female.
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The extent to which differences are innate, vs conditioned by society, is a difficult question to answer. But, by the time we enter the workforce as adults, the differences have manifested.
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Yeah, except there research on human infants, rhesus monkeys and chimpanzees that all show similar differences in behaviors. My favorite was the few male monkeys who played w/dolls, for example. They smashed them around while the female monkeys held them.https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13596-male-monkeys-prefer-boys-toys/ …
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That’s good evidence that *differences* exist, but multiple steps away from supporting differences b/w M-F representation w/in different scientific fields.
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There's other stuff, too. The general theme is interest in people vs things (e.g. dolls vs mechanical toys), which you can also see in the choice of majors...e.g. educating kids vs computer science "things". I'm not an expert, but that's what I've read from the experts.
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I think attempting to isolate a "ppl vs things" preference is woefully inadequate in terms of predicting specific fields of employment. It also says nothing about why women's involvement in comp sci in the US has dropped so much in the last generation.
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