Rachel, the "girls are not called upon" nonsense is debunked by the graduation rate of 
girls vs. boys in high school, and the number of women earning degrees.  It is not 
unusual to have an extroverted lad dominating a class room;  however when at the end 
the female members of the class will on average have better marks and  a better 
understanding of the subject matter than the male members.  It is not unusual in math 
to have the very top performers to be male, but again on average the girls do better 
than the boys.

How should schools encourage  girls to consider science or math, doesn't that come 
from within? Is it the guidance counselors?  I dare say they have rained ruin on as 
many boys as girls.  Are the teachers saying to the girls with a keen interest in 
math,  "You'd be better off learning to  iron clothes than being able to perform 
LaPlace transforms?

I would guess there are numerous outside factors which discourage women.  One is 
indeed that the fields are often male-dominated.  Cracking a homogenous group  can be 
very difficult indeed even if that group is not hostile  to the "infiltration".  
Another is doing something different than your peers.   

I expect you'll be pleased to know that one of our assistant directors is a woman.  
She leads our Research Division.  A position which includes the responsibility of 
deciding what science is performed here.   Our computing and networking efforts also 
fall under her purview.  

I also see many daughters following in their fathers' footsteps.   They are  assuming 
the  same positions that their fathers held  twenty some years  ago.   From this group 
and the  other women scientists,  will come future directors and future Nobel 
Laureates.  It takes time but the progress is steady. 

Ian MacGregor


-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2003 5:39 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L


I think that within the population of women in IT, the number of female Oracle DBAs is 
increasing. However, in general, the number of women entering IT is decreasing. That 
is, the number of women who are encouraged to become DBAs or developers or network 
admins or sys admins is decreasing.

I've noticed (I have a friend with a 13 year old son and a 16 year old
daughter) that the schools are not encouraging girls to go into science or math. There 
have been studies done that show that teachers in those fields tend to call on the 
girls in the class less and spend less time helping them understand the subjects.

My opinion only

Rachel

--- DENNIS WILLIAMS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Recently this list had a discussion of female Oracle DBAs. The 
> consensus was that the numbers were increasing, which I view as a good 
> thing. Here is an
> article with industry statistics saying that the number of women in
> IT is
> decreasing.
> http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/career/article.php/1564501
> Any theories?
> 
> Dennis Williams
> DBA, 40%OCP
> Lifetouch, Inc.
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> -- 
> Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net
> -- 
> Author: DENNIS WILLIAMS
>   INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> Fat City Network Services    -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com
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