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Because we, sometimes subconsciously, give signals to each gender to what "roles" are acceptable for them to take on later in life. That is an absurd thing to do.
Whether we want to admit it or not, what our adults are doing have an effect on what our children think of the world. If a girl doesn't see a lot of women in STEM fields, she'll get the message that maybe that isn't something she should even think about getting into.
By offering incentives to have girls check out these areas, you let them judge for themselves whether they actually have an interest in those fields or not. Wouldn't you actually want the girls themselves to be the ultimate judges on whether they find that work interesting or fulfilling? Rather than some societal stereotype on those fields?
My sister when she was little wanted to be a hockey player because I was too...and she was told "no, that's a boys game"...
You know what, though, she said "eff that" and still played anyways. She played with boys until she was about 14 (even when they started checking). Around that time, she was lucky enough that women's hockey was burgeoning and coming on the scene. She started playing with girls, and kept going. She then went on to play into her collegiate years.
If she had listened to the naysayers, she wouldn't have even tried that sport. She would have just stuck with figure skating (which was something she did try, but didn't like it as much as hockey).
And thankfully, because of girls like my sister, other little girls saw that they could play this game, too (previously mainly for boys/men only).
This kind of thing should happen in STEM. Let the girls decide if they like it or not. And I think you'll be surprised to learn that some girls who wouldn't give those fields a second look because they're conditioned to think they should go off and do something "appropriate" for their gender, actually would end up liking STEM work.
We're in a better place than we used to be in regards to this stuff, but we should continue to work on it as a society.
I say this to everyone who says this. Why only STEM? Why not encourage girls to go into other male dominated jobs?
Because we, sometimes subconsciously, give signals to each gender to what "roles" are acceptable for them to take on later in life. That is an absurd thing to do.
Whether we want to admit it or not, what our adults are doing have an effect on what our children think of the world. If a girl doesn't see a lot of women in STEM fields, she'll get the message that maybe that isn't something she should even think about getting into.
By offering incentives to have girls check out these areas, you let them judge for themselves whether they actually have an interest in those fields or not. Wouldn't you actually want the girls themselves to be the ultimate judges on whether they find that work interesting or fulfilling? Rather than some societal stereotype on those fields?
My sister when she was little wanted to be a hockey player because I was too...and she was told "no, that's a boys game"...
You know what, though, she said "eff that" and still played anyways. She played with boys until she was about 14 (even when they started checking). Around that time, she was lucky enough that women's hockey was burgeoning and coming on the scene. She started playing with girls, and kept going. She then went on to play into her collegiate years.
If she had listened to the naysayers, she wouldn't have even tried that sport. She would have just stuck with figure skating (which was something she did try, but didn't like it as much as hockey).
And thankfully, because of girls like my sister, other little girls saw that they could play this game, too (previously mainly for boys/men only).
This kind of thing should happen in STEM. Let the girls decide if they like it or not. And I think you'll be surprised to learn that some girls who wouldn't give those fields a second look because they're conditioned to think they should go off and do something "appropriate" for their gender, actually would end up liking STEM work.
We're in a better place than we used to be in regards to this stuff, but we should continue to work on it as a society.
Oh I see, the whole "I know what's good for them" nonsense. Please, check the god complex at the door bro.
so can liberals finally admit they feel certain jobs should have quotas?
should this apply to all jobs? What about other male dominated jobs like construction or sewage work?
as with most equality based things, people like you like to leave out years and years of context that clearly explain a decision like this. "Just work harder" like you tell others. We get it, you've been told that you're just better than all the "liberals" and now everything you know about your reality is in question. You feel like you are personally losing something when you haven't, you just have to actually compete on a playing field that isn't as tilted as it was.
I say this to everyone who says this. Why only STEM? Why not encourage girls to go into other male dominated jobs?
Well sure, it should be anything. STEM is just what this topic is about...hence why we're talking about it.
Did you read the rest of my post, though, where I talked about my sister and hockey? That has nothing to do with STEM. It does seem like you didn't really read my post...
Oh I see, the whole "I know what's good for them" nonsense. Please, check the god complex at the door bro.
Did you even read my post?
I actually don't know what's good for them. And that's the freaking point! They should be the judge of that. And we should encourage them to look at any and all fields out there in the world.
Maybe YOU should check the "god complex" at the door. It sounds like you think you know what's best.
I believe it is very rare. I believe the reason there are less women engineers is the same reason there are less women construction workers or road maintenance workers. They do not want to do that job.
Many people want to do certain jobs they just don't feel like going through the multiple extra levels of cracking the glass ceilings. You'd be surprised at how different things are when you're not just apart of whatever the dominant group is in society. Go ahead call me "liberal". Some people would just rather not deal with the headache of dealing with the man-children that control these industries.
In the meantime, companies like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Pratt Whitney and other direct competitors will gladly scoop up the market-share that GE sacrifices to political correctness
Knowing how GE operates, what they're likely trying to do is push a new wave of off\on-shoring of cheap tech workers and are going to try to brand it as "gender equality".
However, they at least get some of the fundamentals right and are looking at things like role models and early education.
I remember the Obama initiative to get more minorities in STEM by encouraging them to enter those majors and possibly some scholarships.
Um, it's wayyyy too late by then. You need these kids taking lots of math and science before they ever leave highschool.
Lego robotics is one good program aimed at addressing this.
Knowing how GE operates, what they're likely trying to do is push a new wave of off\on-shoring of cheap tech workers and are going to try to brand it as "gender equality".
It'd be a smart strategy: market a far-right economic policy (exploitation of cheap foreign labor) as liberal social policy.
It's been working well for corporate America since the 1990s. The average American worker gets the shaft. Including white collar workers.
The problem is that the best person doesn't get the job. The guy usually gets the job.
They've done this study over and over where they put the exact same resume and a guy's name and a girl's name at the top and the guy gets more offers for higher salary.
you don't get to say "they've done studies"
you make that claim, back it up. provide the study. lets see the data. lets see the methodology.
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