From: RIPBC@CUNYVM.BITNET
Newsgroups: soc.women
Subject: Re: Support for young women in science
Date: 27 Sep 92 18:44:32 GMT
 <92270.073307RIPBC@CUNYVM.BITNET><1992Sep26.230535.21410@leland.Stanford.EDU>
Organization: City University of New York/ University Computer Center

-From: farthing@leland.Stanford.EDU (ljf)
-
-You have repeatedly distorted the original poster's proposal.  If
-telling you that you're doing this is a personal attack, so be it.
-
    Here is the original posting by larry.  I have addressed myself exactly
    to what he suggested, agreeing with the first five lines, and showing
    strong reservations about the restriction that the advisers would HAVE
    to be female.

-In soc.women, larry8@ut-emx.uucp (Larry) writes:
-
->   With regard to the difficulties that females have pursuing
->   an interest in science, I am curious as to whether any of the
->   women on this group think of the idea of a newsgroup (or listserv)
->   targeting young women of, for example, high school age.  Of course,
->   this presupposes that they would have access to an e-mail
->   account.  But if such access were available, do you think that it
->   would be helpful to young women to be able to discuss their concerns
->   with either female college students studying science or women in
->   science/engineering jobs?
-
    Let us consider what Helen Watters says:

-From: hwatters@armltd.uucp (Helen Watters)
-
-I like Larry's idea of letting young women talk to women engineers
-to find out what it is like for a woman in engineering, but
-some men seem to be calling it sexist.
-
    I would NOT call it sexist if the operative word is `letting'.

-If I feel I need to discuss something with someone, I will try to
-choose the person, who I feel will give me the best advice about or
-perspective on a situation. ie I feel their life experiences, make
-their thoughts worth listening to. So depending on the situation,
-I will look for different people.  For instance, if I needed
-advice about my career, I would seek out people who could give me
-their views on the world of work. I probably wouldn't talk to
-a person, who had retired ten tears ago.  If I needed to find out
-more information on house buying, I would probably canvass views
-of those who had been through the process, not someone who had
-only ever rented. etc.  If I want a female's opinion on a subject
-I ask a woman and if I want a male's opinion on a subject
-I ask a man.

    This is PRECISELY the point.  Let us consider two groups for such a
    purpose.

    (A)  A group in which high school girls interested in Science would be
    able to communicate with female and only female graduate students and
    scientists.

    (B)  A group in which high school girls interested in Science would be
    able to communicate with both male and female graduate students and
    scientists.

         I fail to see what group (A) could possibly achieve for the  young
    woman that group  (B) could not.   Moreoever, group (B)  would give her
    the possibility, if she knew her own interests, of communicating with a
    male Scientist whose interests were  closer to hers.  If she  preferred
    to communicate  primarily or  exclusively with  women, then  group (B)
    would facilitate that also since it would put her in contact with
    people of both sexes.

         In many universities these days, I understand that black students
    tend to sit with other black students in the cafetaria and white
    students with other white students.  If they feel more comfortable this
    way, then that is their choice.  However, if you had TWO cafetarias,
    one for whites and one for blacks, then it would discourage blacks and
    whites from talking to each other and I do NOT think it would be an
    adequate defence to say, "well, they could go to another cafetaria
    where the races are not segregated".

         I  think  it  might  be  useful  to  know  who were the people who
    actually influenced the women who  went into science.  My suspicion  is
    that  it  was  mixed,  and  that  the  case  of  a  woman scientist who
    communicated ONLY with other women is  rare.  I have heard about the need
 for role models, but my  own feeling is that  this is just a  bit of theory
    and actually you do not know in  advance the sex or race of the  person
    who is going  to influence you.   Note that prominent  women's colleges
    restrict the student  body to be  female but they  do NOT restrict  the
    faculty to be female.

         Rohit Parikh
From: reykja@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Reykja Sigurdsson)
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 00:48:49 GMT
Subject: Re: My Bitter/Sweet Tale
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA