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Men And Women Think Women Are Bad At Basic Math

sciencehabit writes "Think women can't do math? You're wrong — but new research (paywalled) shows you might not change your mind, even if you get evidence to the contrary. A study of how both men and women perceive each other's mathematical ability finds that an unconscious bias against women — by both men and women — could be skewing hiring decisions, widening the gender gap in mathematical professions like engineering."

14 of 384 comments (clear)

  1. Participation awards for boys! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Because we all know that women are better than men at some things, but men are never better than women at anything.

    1. Re:Participation awards for boys! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Because we all know that women are better than men at some things, but men are never better than women at anything.

      Umm, ever seen a woman load a dishwasher?

    2. Re:Participation awards for boys! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, you can pack a lot more in a dishwasher if getting the stuff actually clean is not a priority.

    3. Re:Participation awards for boys! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      How sexist of you! You must be a White Male Capitalist! You're automatically wrong about... WELL, ABOUT EVERYTHING!!!

      > cryingbaby.jpg

    4. Re:Participation awards for boys! by myth24601 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Men are better at avoiding work. If you can't pack it all in the dishwasher, you will have extra work to do when you hand wash what doesn't fit.

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      No matter where you go, there you are.
  2. Some women are _very_ bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    My ex-girlfriend was once helped through a math problem by her teacher, and they figured out that the solution was the half of x, so the teacher told her to write that down.

    She wrote down '/'.

  3. Re: In my experience by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 4, Funny

    The older I become, the less significant difference I see between the sexes. Kinda sad?

    No, it just means you finally need glasses.

  4. Re:Human Nature by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 4, Funny

    We frequently fall prey to these assumptions made under no particular scientific method.

    Citation of reproducible study needed.

  5. Re:Obligatory xkcd by retroworks · · Score: 5, Funny

    Obligatory RTFA, (the comic is at the top of the second link)

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    Gently reply
  6. It's because women's clothes lack pockets by sandbagger · · Score: 4, Funny

    If their clothes had pockets, they could carry money on their persons and get more counting practice in.

    Pockets. Think about it.

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    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
  7. Obviously. by meglon · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's because men keep telling women that 4 inches is actually 8 inches.

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    Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
  8. Re:uhh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    My guess is that this is due to the stereotypical reputations of CS/Engineering (bearded hackers with poor hygiene and huge egos) being less appealing to women than to men.

    You also have to take into account the much lower portion of the female population which is capable of growing a good beard. They may be self-selecting out of this profession due to a lack of capability in this area.

  9. All my mom knows how to do is multiply... by Dareth · · Score: 4, Funny

    All my mom knows how to do is multiply...but that is why I have seven siblings.

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    I only look human.
    My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
  10. Re:arithmetic is not math [Re:In my experience] by tsqr · · Score: 1, Funny

    No, not just arithmetic, you also learn algebra by rote memorization and constant exercise. With time this helps you to spot regularities and later you are able to see possible solutions in complex mathematical problems.

    There are experiments about what helps pupils best to get better with mathematics, and it has been shown that drill and constant exercise is the most effective way, even for complexer mathematical problems.

    Rote memorization is also an effective way to learn the rules of grammar. More people should try it.