Paul Smith just alerted me to an article in Dec 1998 (vol 7, #6, December)
Current Directions by a co-worker (S. Graham) on student outcomes measures. It
inspired me to read it as I recently agreed to serve on as assessment
committee, and, glancing through that copy of the journal I discovered yet
_another_ article of interest to recent tips threads - Stumpf and Stanley's
"Stability and Change in Gender-Related Differences on the College Board
Advanced Placement and Achievement Tests" p. 192-196. It reports advanaced
placement gender differences on a variety of tests (math, physics, literature,
etc.). It reports sex difference effect sizes (d) for all the advanced
placement tests. Guess which test showed the strongest gender difference
favoring males? Yes, you guessed it - Mechanics (Physics C) d=.52 Now, Michael
Sylvester just asked a question about gender differences in car _mechanic_
repairs, didn't he? Funny how (with a bit of imagination) all these topics
come together!
The largest effect size for female advanatge was on the Spanish Literature
Advanced Placement Test (d=.23), followed by French Literature (d=.20). If we,
as a society, were to value the humanities and the social sciences as much as
we valued mechanics (e.g. by paying Spanish and French professors as much as
Physics professors) would this make the "vive la difference!" argument more palatable?
p.s. besides spending my summer doing academic readings, I also just read
Martin Cruz Smith's (of Gorky Park fame) recent novel _Rose_. It's a great
book, about the coal mines of 19th century England - murder, sex, detective
work, social class issues - I highly recommend it. It was also the source of
my .sig file about being "wrought in the lowest parts of the earth." It's both
a literal reference to the depths of coal mines, as well as an illusion to our
darker, mysterious origins (at least, that's my interp). In Psalms 139 it
probably means something totally different. If you're familiar with Smith's
other well known books (Gorky Park, Polar Star, Red Square), _Rose_ is leaner,
less complex as a detective work, but more riveting as an emotional and
psychological drama.
--
* John W. Kulig, Department of Psychology ************************
* Plymouth State College Plymouth NH 03264 *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://oz.plymouth.edu/~kulig *
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* "I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest *
* parts of the earth" - Psalm 139 *
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