U.S. culture derails girl math whizzes

Parent Cafe
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<p>And it’s not so supportive of boys either.</p>

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<p>[U.S&lt;/a&gt;. culture derails girl math whizzes (Oct. 10, 2008)](<a href=“http://www.news.wisc.edu/15766]U.S”>U.S. culture derails girl math whizzes)</p>

<p>There’s a link to the original article, should anybody like to read it in full.</p>

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<p>The material cited above was from a UW-Madison press release, which is not copywrited.</p>

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<p>Not derailed directed other ways.</p>

<p>The bear is one of those girl math whizzes. I suspected she was very good in third grade and knew she was special in fifth grade. I didn’t tell her until the month she left for college. I didn’t want burnout or her to be considered different. And the last thing I would want for her is to be a professor. I would prefer her to out in the real world solving real problems. And based on her college career so far the real world agrees.</p>

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<p>Not just an offensive thing to say - a completely stupid one as well.</p>

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<p>I saw signs of this when I viewed engineering school numbers. The vast majority of our engineering grad students are foreign students. And the numbers are rising for those completing the undergraduate engineering programs also. A friend of mine who is an engineer is appalled about this. When he was in college, he considered himself an average student, and his engineering class was filled with Americans. Now his alma mater has many foreign students graduating with this major. A lot of the American kids just don’t want to stick with the work this field requires in college. Even those kids who are American tend to be first generation.</p>

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<p>As it pertains to our society’s need to develop “extraordinary mathematical ability” I say “bah.”</p>

<p>Perhaps the smallest of the many problems in American education.</p>

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<p>Hmmm…
I can’t think of a response.</p>

<p>My daughter is interested in becoming a professor and that would be our of my top choices for her, if we had a say in her eventual occupation. I think it would be our top choice among the career options she is currently considering!</p>

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Wrong. Not developing the best in brightest into true value producing careers (ie: knowledge generation) is perhaps the greatest failing in the American economy today and the effects will be felt for a long time. </p>

<p>We just make lawyers, accountants, & consultants instead (as if these actually generate wealth).</p>

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<p>What on <em>earth</em> is wrong with being a professor?? They solve real world problems through the work they do with the grants they get!!</p>

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<p>I don’t know if we have so fewer females in math/science than other countries. The list of great female mathematicians is very short, world wide.</p>

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<p>“Wrong. Not developing the best in brightest into true value producing careers (ie: knowledge generation) is perhaps the greatest failing in the American economy today and the effects will be felt for a long time.”</p>

<p>I guess Bob Herbert agrees…</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/opinion/14herbert.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/opinion/14herbert.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>tetrahedr0n, I want her to be like her great grandfathers. In the US you drink clean water because of the work of one. The other designed some pretty impressive railroad bridges. Wanting your child to follow these footsteps is neither offensive nor stupid.</p>

<p>MidwestMom2Kids_, people on both coasts have high hopes for her. She sees possibilities to help solve a couple of very hard problems. Why shouldn’t I encourage this path when others encourage it?</p>

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Good. If she’s a native English speaker, send her to be a prof at UCLA. My D would like to have a math prof who can actually speak understandable English.</p>

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<p>Many of the people whose research is solving the problems of the world are university professors. Researchers working at national universities have grant funding that allows them to work on solving the mysteries of the universe, gaining yield in agriculture to help feed the hungry, understanding genetics, preventing and curing diseases… My goodness. </p>

<p>I don’t know who funded the research the great grandfather did, but right now, a lot of good work on clean air and clean water is being done at universities by professors whose research is funded by the EPA.
[Funding</a> Opportunities | NCER | ORD | US EPA](<a href=“http://es.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/]Funding”>http://es.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/)</p>

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<p>Where’s the frantic thread about the dearth of males majoring in elementary and secondary education? And in nursing for that matter? Or about the huge college gender imbalance in general? What are colleges doing about it? </p>

<p>Sometimes I think I’ll never get this whole PC thing right.</p>

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<p>I’m with those who think our education system is shortchanging ALL math whizzes. It was like pulling teeth to get any kind of math acceleration in our school system.</p>

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<p>^^ My D ‘ran out’ of math classes to take in her HS. She’d taken the highest they offered (AP Calc, AP Stats) by junior year.</p>

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<p>My daughter also “ran out” of math classes at her high school after junior year. She took Calculus 2 and Statistics at a local university/community college as a senior and now, as a college freshman, awaits word of what credits will be accepted. (OOS @ UCB) In the meantime she takes no math.:(</p>

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<p>I hope he didn’t have your attitude towards learning math, or the same bridges might not have lasted very long or help up very much. You’re a great example of the incredible negativity towards math mentioned in the article.</p>