Tamra wrote:
>me doing big things). And folks who do surveys wonder why Girls in school
>don't voice an interest in computers, web design, or programming -- because
>teachers, parents, or especially peers tell them "oh, you shouldn't be
>interested in *that* stuff".
Ditto. I graduated from high school in the 60s, way before computers became
an option. I remember vividly my mother going to war against the local
school board when I was in junior high school. She was fighting against the
fact that 8th grade boys were required to take physical science, while 8th
grade girls were required to take home economics instead. She had already
taught me to sew and cook, so she thought home ec was a waste of my time.
Mom was battling gender tracking years before it became a widespread issue.
She lost, and I took home ec.
>From high school I went on to a fashionable and expensive women's college
in Virginia. I got bored and transferred out after two years. But I had a
friend there who, when she told her advisor (a biology professor) that she
wanted to go pre-med, was told, "why do you want to do that, aren't you
just going to get married and raise a family?"
My Mom, on the other hand, had worked as a bookkeeper in a medical clinic.
During my Candy Striper days, she frequently told me, "I'll pay for you to
study to be a doctor, but I will not pay for you to study to be a nurse.
You're smarter than most of the doctors I worked for, and you'll be
miserable having to work for them." Unfortunately, Mom later pushed me into
fashion design when I really wanted to study graphic design. It took me 6
years, plus a settlement from a car wreck lawsuit to finally study
graphics. I just wish parents would offer children a wide range of
opportunities, then support their kids in following whatever intrigues them.
Nowadays, it seems that if a parent wants to offer computers as an option,
they'll have to do it at home. In Oregon, Gov. Kitzhaber is currently
pushing to get ONE computer in every classroom throughout the state. Pray
tell how is anyone going to be able to spend enough time on one shared
computer to be able to learn anything about it? And do the teachers know
anything about computers?
I imagine it'll be the kids like our ten year old nephew who grow up to be
computer professionals: Matthew has his own PC, a dedicated phone line, and
has already put up a couple of Web pages. He gets online every afternoon to
play some computer game, and gets *very* annoyed if Dave interrupts him by
ICQing him during his game sessions.
Suz
I went to school during the 70s, and had
>friends constantly tell me that showing how smart I was was guaranteed to
>make me unpopular -- weren't those sort of ideas supposed to go away in the
>60s? Yeah, right.
>
>But more importantly, nobody ever spoke of computers as *interesting* when
>I was in school -- not even in college. They were tools, and only the kids
>who joined science club and debate team and wore high-water pants (all
>male) were encouraged to learn more. Art and fashion design were
>"glamorous", being a secretary a good way to make money, being a business
>executive (major in accounting or get an MBA) a better way, being a lawyer
>meant good money but was only encouraged for the real villainous. Being a
>computer programmer? Not a good career choice, even if there's good money
>in it, because nobody in HS really wants to admit that they are a nerd and
>yet nerds are *obviously* the only folks who go into this business (all the
>TV shows say so at least). Web design has some glamour these days, but
>probably not enough to overcome the effects of the movies like War Games
>(remember the programmers Matt Broderick got his info from?) and the
>comic-book like portrayals of us all as spending our days eating twinkies.
>Faced with those stereotypes, a typical kid with a desire to be popular
>during school would have to have a very strong existing interest in
>programming and web design to get involved in said areas during the school
>years.
>
>>Now I came back to work.
>
>Some of us never left -- I didn't get done until midnight, and so missed
>the whole interview, darn it all.
>
>--Tamra
>------------------------------------------------------------
>Hart Consulting http://www.hartcons.com/
>Web Design & Engineering Studio Silicon Valley, California
>650-967-6162 1-800-749-8032 (fax)
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Suzanne Stephens, Dave Stephens Design; Ashland, Oregon
541-552-1190, 541-552-1192 http://www.KickassDesign.com/
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