The paralyzing guilt of being good at math 2

Nov

8

2013

I’m okay at math. Or at least I was. I haven’t done anything more difficult than long division and some statistics in years, and the thing about math is that it’s a language. If you don’t use it, you tend to forget how to do it. (Though conversely it’s easier to pick back up on ...
read more →

feminism · sexism

In which I am interviewed 1

Jul

8

2013

I was kind of surprised when I got a request for an interview for Laurel Zuckerman’s Paris Weblog. Turns out I caught her attention with my strongly-worded ire about the SFWA Bulletin issue #202 mess. This is actually the first interview I’ve ever had (even if it was by e-mail) and I was very nervous about ...
read more →

feminism · women in science · writing

Lady [Insert Job Title Here] 12

Jun

4

2013

This may come as a shock, but I am not a “Lady Geologist.” I do not examine women visually and use lab tests in order to understand their physical properties, provenance, and environment of deposition. I have never gone up to a female stranger, hammered a chunk off of her, and sent it to the ...
read more →

feminism · rants · sfwa · women in science · writing

Ego > IQ?

Dec

7

2009

Well, obviously. For guys, at least. I find this very unsurprising, to be honest. Sorry, but we still very much live in a society where women feel a definite pressure to dumb themselves down. This sort of study also lines up pretty nicely with the “girls are bad at science/math” attitude as well. Men think ...
read more →

women in science

Women and geoscience degrees.

Dec

1

2009

There are some new statistics from the AGI regarding women earning science degrees – and more specifically geoscience degrees. The general upward trend makes me quite happy, as far as geoscience degrees being conferred. There looks like there’s been a teeny dip in the percentage of undergraduate degrees over the past couple of years, but ...
read more →

grad school · women in science

What, you mean my ladybrain can do math?

Nov

11

2009

The Math Gap The majority of the girls who have been chosen to represent the United States in international mathematics competitions come from a set of about 20 high schools with elite math teams. This extreme concentration of talent strongly indicates the crucial role that environmental factors, not just innate ability, play in shaping the ...
read more →

feminism · women in science