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from the this-will-not-be-controversial-oh-no-sir dept.
GungnirSniper writes:
"Catherine Rampell at The Washington Post has 'A message to the nation's women: Stop trying to be straight-A students.'
In her analysis of others' findings, she writes of a discouragement gradient that pushes women out of harder college degrees, including economics and other STEM degrees. Men do not seem to have a similar discouragement gradient, so they stay in harder degree programs and ultimately earn more. Data suggests that women might also value high grades more than men do and sort themselves into fields where grading curves are more lenient.
'Maybe women just don't want to get things wrong,' Goldin hypothesized. 'They don't want to walk around being a B-minus student in something. They want to find something they can be an A student in. They want something where the professor will pat them on the back and say "You're doing so well!"'
'Guys,' she added, 'don't seem to give two damns.'
Why are women in college moving away from harder degrees?"
(Score: 5, Interesting) by frojack on Wednesday March 12 2014, @05:04PM
Two friends have daughters just out of college, who were so terrified of getting anything less than perfect grades that they knew the last bailout date that they could drop out of or "audit" classes to avoid getting anything less than a B+.
They were like this all through High school as well. They were very smart kids, even studied abroad as exchange students, one in norway one in holland, and they were shocked when they got Bs and Cs in the EU schools, and did a tremendous amount of extra work to erase those. Their foreign teachers couldn't understand the panic. The girls explained to these teachers that they couldn't have anything but B+ on their record if they wanted to get into prestigious Universities in the US. The teachers were incredulous.
As it ended, they both graduated near the top of their class from very good schools in the US, and went into what I consider "soft careers". (Social issues related fields). I always thought it was a waste of a perfectly good brain.
All but one of my sisters did the same thing. One stuck to her guns and retired as the head of the microbiology medical lab at a large midwest regional hospital.
I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of women in companies I worked for who were in my field (large software systems development). They were very good at their job. But their degrees were in something else, something easier.
Discussion should abhor vacuity, as space does a vacuum.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday March 12 2014, @06:53PM
A good brain spoiled by a bad attitude: compliance. Wonder what amount of critical thinking and attitude to challenge things that are wrong is still in those brains.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 12 2014, @07:13PM
I thought everyone did that.... If I can't put 3.8 on my resume wtf is the point of college? I still won't get the job I want.
(Score: 1) by dcollins on Thursday March 13 2014, @12:35AM
I think that's a joke? If not, bookmark this, come back in 5 years and explain to yourself at least two reasons why that makes no sense.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 13 2014, @08:49AM
As it ended, they both graduated near the top of their class from very good schools in the US, and went into what I consider "soft careers". (Social issues related fields). I always thought it was a waste of a perfectly good brain.
Wow, what a horrible outlook on life. You consider smart people trying to solve social issues a "waste of a perfectly good brian"? Solving social issues should be everyone's goal. Maybe if they went into HFT you'd be happier? I'm very glad these smart women cared more about their world than you appear to.