[Zholl]

just a couple of thoughts:
I would definitely have to agree that women and men are hardwired very differently. we have studies that show that typically, women are very much right brained where men are left, however I would also say that has more impact on the methodology rather than the aptitude of either gender in a STEM field.

I'd also have to say that how you're raised has a significant impact on what a person is like. I realize that neither of us are girls, but my brother and I are pretty good examples of this. when I was little, my parents still had a good chunk of free time that they could spend with me. I also loved books, I loved learning things, and I was curious about everything. my parents had time to sit and read to me, and to help me with my various curiosities. when my brother reached the same age a few years later, he was much the same way, but our parents were working more and didn't have as much time for him as they had had for me. 10-12 years later, you can see the difference it's made. both of us are highly intelligent, but where I'm interested in robotics, and engineering, and all the related subjects, he's become much more of a "jock" type, doing things like MMA and hockey. despite this, he is able to pull off some of the most amazing feats of geo-spatial reasoning I've ever seen, so it's not a lack of mental ability that he's gone this way so much as the fact that his curiosity shifted to more physical past-times as something of an early developmental necessity. I'm certain that there are a lot of girls that find themselves similarly disinterested in math and science because of the way they are raised early on, whether it's because they're parents simply don't have time to help them look into they're curiosities as with my brother, or because their parents instead push them in the opposite direction. I know several girls that fit into that "ditsy cheerleader" stereotype, and it seems to be because their parents made the decision for them, and these girls eventually just grew to fit the mold.

on a more personal note, I find that the girls you typically find involved in FIRST or in other "nerd" activities are far more interesting and, as a result, attractive, then those that better fit mold of what society thinks I should (then again, my Asperger's sort of prevents me from thinking much like the neurotypical male, especially in these matters, so that probably plays into it quite a bit). these are the same young women I find myself trying to bring into FIRST, if they're not already, out of a desire to share this with them and a belief that they would enjoy the experience that comes with it.


I realize that these don't necessarily add much to the current discussion, they're just some thoughts I had while reading this discussion that I felt like sharing, so take them how you will