Disclaimer: this post contains my personal view on a given matter. Don’t ask me for statistical data that supports what’s written here, because I don’t have it. These are simply my own perceptions and conclusions, which might be completely mistaken.
There’s this movement called Nerd Girls, and reading their website just made me laugh.
So, they want to encourage girls to enter the “science, technology, math and engineering” fields so that they can “change their world”. That’s actually a very nice initiative, and I would be willing to support it.
But there’s a problem.
The science and engineering fields are traditionally dominated by men. I believe that might be alredy intimidating for women. However, I believe the real issue is that many men in these fields act just like the character sitting on the chair in this xkcd comic.
What’s the problem with Nerd Girls? Check out the Profiles section on their website. It does a really lousy job at trying to get women to be respected in science and engineering. The Nerd Girls website doesn’t look like one which is trying to promote the inclusion of women in specific academic/market fields. Pictures like Casey‘s bottommost one will only encourage men in science and engineering (I mean, men who have such an attitude) to continue having an idiotic attitude towards women in their fields, thus keeping them away.
So please, Nerd Girls, get serious.
I agree that the profiles could use some more information – perhaps about how most of those girls have advanced degrees from top tier schools and work for top technical corporations. Please realize that we are not trying to get women respected in science in engineering – individuals earn respect through their contributions. We are just trying to show young girls, who can not currently see themselves fitting into the stereotypical image of an engineer or scientist, that engineering is interesting, can change the world, and you don’t have to change who you are to contribute to the field. You can still dress like a girl, and have “feminine” interests, even though you design circuits or build airplanes all day
I understand your point, but I still think the kind of material and presentation on the website might actually have a negative impact on the motivation behind Nerd Girls. Maybe *I* completely missed the point, but I’m still concerned that the website might give the wrong impression to some people (more specifically, some men).
I hope you don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against women in science and engineering. In fact, I believe women might give great contributions to those fields, since they are generally able to see details men tend to overlook. And I don’t think they need to give up their feminine interests