6 ms·

One possible reason for this is that in those countries science/engineering is often one of the few routes an educated women has available. I've only heard this

One possible reason for this is that in those countries science/engineering is often one of the few routes an educated women has available. I've only heard this anecdotally and haven't been able to research it, but it could be one factor.

pavel_lishin 15y ago
My mother was born and raised in the USSR, and got a master's degree in engineering (if memory serves correctly). I'll link her to this comment, and see what she has to say (I'll probably end up replying to myself on this comment, I don't know if she'd have any interest in signing up for an account.) edit: can we get a reddit-style "context" option? I want to link her to this comment, and display the two parent comments; if I just link to the 'grandparent', who knows where Scriptor's reply will end up.
- irahul 15y ago
  Click on the link of the comment you want to forward: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2782258 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2782258
  - pavel_lishin 15y ago
    Two problems with that. It doesn't show the parent comment (credo's), and it doesn't highlight a specific chain of replies. If I want to show someone this comment (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2783390 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2783390) and the two parent replies, there's no way to do that. I can link to the grandparent, but what if the parent comment is downvoted in the meanwhile? It would show up at the very bottom.
pavel_lishin 15y ago
She responded: I am Pavel's mom who was born and raised in USSR. I don't think that being an engineer was the only route for a woman to become educated - women could become doctors or teachers as well. As a matter of fact there were more female doctors and teachers than male. Accountant degree was also very popular and obtainable among women. I think that credo may be right - it is societal and cultural pressure that prevent girls from going into these fields.
- Scriptor 15y ago
  The person who told me the above was my own mom, who is from South Asia :) In that region at least medicine and engineering are very common for girls to go into, not so much other fields requiring a college degree (I think). Again, just anecdotes.
prayag 15y ago
That's just bull-shit. These girls are American Indians and I doubt their parents would give them a choice of either study science or stay at home. Women in developing countries face the same problem as the women in the US on top of facing the problems that are unique to these countries.

pavel_lishin 15y ago

My mother was born and raised in the USSR, and got a master's degree in engineering (if memory serves correctly). I'll link her to this comment, and see what she has to say (I'll probably end up replying to myself on this comment, I don't know if she'd have any interest in signing up for an account.) edit: can we get a reddit-style "context" option? I want to link her to this comment, and display the two parent comments; if I just link to the 'grandparent', who knows where Scriptor's reply will end up.

irahul 15y ago
Click on the link of the comment you want to forward: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2782258 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2782258
- pavel_lishin 15y ago
  Two problems with that. It doesn't show the parent comment (credo's), and it doesn't highlight a specific chain of replies. If I want to show someone this comment (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2783390 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2783390) and the two parent replies, there's no way to do that. I can link to the grandparent, but what if the parent comment is downvoted in the meanwhile? It would show up at the very bottom.

pavel_lishin 15y ago

She responded: I am Pavel's mom who was born and raised in USSR. I don't think that being an engineer was the only route for a woman to become educated - women could become doctors or teachers as well. As a matter of fact there were more female doctors and teachers than male. Accountant degree was also very popular and obtainable among women. I think that credo may be right - it is societal and cultural pressure that prevent girls from going into these fields.

Scriptor 15y ago
The person who told me the above was my own mom, who is from South Asia :) In that region at least medicine and engineering are very common for girls to go into, not so much other fields requiring a college degree (I think). Again, just anecdotes.

prayag 15y ago

That's just bull-shit. These girls are American Indians and I doubt their parents would give them a choice of either study science or stay at home. Women in developing countries face the same problem as the women in the US on top of facing the problems that are unique to these countries.