Barbie says, "Math is hard"

In high school there were just as many girls as guys in my AP Biology and Organic Chemistry classes, but fewer hanging out and talking BBS smack at Computer Club. In college the Intro to Computer Science class was pretty balanced, but CS II showed the first signs of a noticeable gender imbalance, skewing toward guys having the majority. I’d go home after classes and log a few hours on Quake, and noticed that my opponents tended to be all men. Usenet newsgroups that focused on cryptography, open source computing, and similar subjects also seemed to have a higher number of male names than female. These days, I show up at electronic music workshops or poke around similar forums and am usually one of two or three other girls there. And there’s only a handful of recognized women electronic musicians in the field as opposed to the countless men. Seeing as we’re supposed to be a pretty egalitarian culture, that’s weird, right?

Girls and young women are less likely than boys and young men to agree with the statements “I like mathematics” and “I like science,” in a national survey:

• 40% of girls and 31% of boys said that math is their least favorite subject
• 21% of girls and 17% of boys said that science is their least favorite subject *

Theories abound as to what or who’s responsible, but the facts are that less women choose to take up math and science related professions than men, and the drop off in interest seems to hit in pre-teen and teenage girls.*

Since this really bugs me, I did a bit of research and discovered a nonprofit that’s dedicated to making sure that girls pursue their interest in math and science by holding targeted workshops across the country. They’re called the Math Science Network and the program is called Expanding Your Horizons. I also created “Wristlings” where I donate a portion of the sales to EYH.

What are your thoughts? What’s responsible for the gender imbalance in Math and Science? Have you had similar or different experiences than I have? Post your ideas in the comments.

* “Girls and Math and Engineering” Girls Inc.