The Yale Problem Begins in High School

Re:The Yale Problem Begins in High School by astroalex on Wednesday November 25, 2015 @03:14PM (#10629370)

I might agree that "CS is the great equalizer" if everyone is given an equal opportunity to pursue it. But I don't think they are. Boys are given the focus by default: just watch any Hollywood movie with a "hacker" -- are they a man or a woman? I believe girls are taught from a young age that CS isn't for them.

How many potentially brilliant female computer scientists are we missing out on as a society because our media and culture barrages them with images of male programmers? It's in my selfish interest as a white male to promote CS among underrepresented groups -- because one of them might come up with the next innovation that changes my life. But they don't get the chance, because they're told they can't be programmers.

That's why I think outreach focused on young minorities & girls is important.

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Re:The Yale Problem Begins in High School by coreyp_1 on Wednesday November 25, 2015 @03:31PM (#10629480)

What movies/tv shows are you watching? Try Supernatural. Try the old movies from the 90's like Hackers and The Net. Even the Matrix. All of them featured women hackers as well as men.

I was not given "the focus" by default. My Jr. High and High School did not have a CS program at all. I taught myself how to program (Pascal and Assembly) by READING BOOKS, because we lived in a rural area and dial-up internet is slow!

Is it so wrong to believe that if I can do it, so can others, regardless of their gender? Maybe I have a higher confidence in women than they do!

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Re:The Yale Problem Begins in High School by ps4fanboy on Wednesday November 25, 2015 @04:04PM (#10629677)

I was the only kid at my school who was interested in computers and was actively bullied because of it, I will never understand this narrative of privilege and encouragement, it really doesn't fit with my experiences or the experiences of my peers.

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Re:The Yale Problem Begins in High School by gluelogic on Wednesday November 25, 2015 @03:34PM (#10629495)

Movies about hackers came after hackers had existed for a while. They were mostly male and so it makes sense that that is who would be cast to play those roles.

Anyway, Acid Burn and Trinity are iconic Hollywood hacker characters.

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Re:The Yale Problem Begins in High School by thelastguy on Thursday November 26, 2015 @04:09AM (#10632050)

>How many potentially brilliant female computer scientists are we missing out on as a society because our media and culture barrages them with images of male programmers?

Something very wrong with this. Why do those potentially brilliant computer scientist have to be female? Why can't they be male? Are you saying that males are not as brilliant as females? In fact, why does the gender of those potentially brilliant scientists even matter? As long as those scientists are brilliant, why does their gender matter?

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