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Men And Women Think Women Are Bad At Basic Math

Posted by Unknown on from the my-mom-makes-fun-of-me-for-sucking-at-diff-eq dept.

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."

1 of 384 comments (clear)

  1. Don't be so harsh ... by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I worked as a part time waiter while I was in college. One night I was waiting on a party of over 40 people (5 tables in all) and when I added up the final bill (it was in the '70s and there was no PC-based POS back then) manually (over 80 items in total, including drinks and desserts ) and handed it to the folks, an old guy looked at the bill and scolded me for "not doing it right".

    I was right and he was wrong, but, as he was the customer, I couldn't tell him that his math sux, so I did the next best thing - I call the manager and let him add up the total bill.

    It came up the same. (I did say I was right).

    The moral of this story is ... don't be harsh.

    Joe sixpacks don't do much math, and you don't get them to do extra-ordinary level of math without them feeling very sorry for themselves.

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !