NYCPHP Meetup

[Ajai Khattri]

On Sat, 19 Apr 2008, Kristina Anderson wrote:

> Yes, that is what I was referring to and you are right, the educational 
> system has to change over time to meet society's needs...but right now 
> in the US we have this particular system still in place.

So, what you're saying is that the US hasn't adapted as much as other 
wstern European nations in their attitudes of higher education.

> And also I feel there is a lot of transferability between liberal arts 
> and any field one chooses to go into...for instance, I studied the 
> structure and usage of human languages...now I use different 
> programming languages and they have similarities and differences just 
> as human languages do...and then I spent 7 (of the most boring) years 
> of my life proofreading and editing legal contracts...which taught me 
> patience to wade through tons of code (which isn't exactly stimulating 
> reading either in most cases!!), and a careful eye for detail.  So I 
> feel that even if it's not "vocational," there is a place for liberal 
> arts in education and it's not a waste of time to study it on the 
> university level.

I could also argue that any programmer who has used several 
programming languages would have those skills regardless of whether they 
took liberal arts courses or not. It comes with experience.

> school life)...and still they would not let me enroll.  Hopefully 
> things have changed a bit since then.

They would not "let" you enroll? You mean, registering and paying your 
fees would be blocked? By who? The Police?

I started college at the end of the 80s and my CS class did include women. 
Again, this is in the UK so maybe your comment about the system still 
being in place in the US (and thus any institutionalized prejudices too) 
may have something to do with that.

It should be noted that in general, if you look at the numbers, 
undergraduates in science, math and related technical fields have been on 
a download path in the US since the bust 2001. Those occupations are 
perceived as not "safe" so generally numbers are down (and hence numbers 
of females too).



-- 
Aj.