Re: Why the Widening Gender Gap in Computer Science?
On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 12:42 PM, Helen Faulkner <helen@debian.org> wrote:
> Out of interest, Brenda, are you in New Zealand, as your address suggests?
yes.
> I ask because I'm in Australia, and in most cases Australia and New Zealand are
> extremely culturally similar.
We're similar, but i reckon on gender equality NZ is doing far better
In true trans-Tasman rivalry - i have a URL to back this up:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/simon-collins/news/article.cfm?a_id=135&objectid=10543185
<quote>
The commission's Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, Judy
McGregor, says New Zealand's performance in keeping fifth place behind
only four Scandinavian countries in the latest Global Gender Gap
Report is "remarkable".
By contrast, Australia dropped from 13th-equal in 2000 and 17th last
year to 21st place this year, behind many poorer countries, such as
the Philippines, Mozambique and Lesotho.
</quote>
I make many visits to Australia each year. I've hung out with crowds
who are awesome.. and some crowds who think i'm a freak because i
drink beer and not sugary cocktails like women are supposed to.
Australia waiters consistently get things reversed and deliver the
midori to me and my beer to my husband. The steak to him, the salad to
me. It's not an important issue but it's an example of "men do this,
sheilas do that" attitude.
>And in Australia it's true that women, especially
> those with children, still do the majority of parenting and housework tasks.
> It's still connected, in my opinion, to the way that women, in general, earn
> less on average than their male partners. So it still makes financial sense for
> most couples to choose for the woman to stay at home with the kids, while the
> man keeps on working in paid employment.
It only makes financial sense when you keep paying men more than women.
Women do the child rearing, therefore they get less pay, therefore
they do the child rearing?? What a circle. :-(
> Most of the parents I know (nearly all young, highly educated professionals and
> parents of young children) have mum working part-time and dad working full time,
> with the children in part-time daycare. I don't know any couple where mum works
> full time and dad works part time, though there are surely some out there.
I'm loathe to judge - the feeling i get is Australia is along way from
having a female prime minister. I hope to be proved wrong and things
can change fast. I recall Australia having mostly men in leadership of
the country. I think over in NZ we've got to the point that nobody
cares what gender a political candidate is anymore. They used to we
got over it.
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