NYCPHP Meetup

[Kristina Anderson]

Ajai, I think you misunderstood grossly several points I was trying to 
make.

i.e.
> 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.

(I hope you would not waste your time "arguing" over something so 
glaringly obvious.  My point was that these skills are learnable in 
different ways, not just through a CS major).

Also, in case you are not familiar, public high schools in the US do 
not charge "fees" -- but are supported by government funds and tax 
dollars from property taxes -- and the school administration can make 
policies about which classes are open to which students, and they were 
within their rights at the time to refuse enrollment in certain classes 
to female students.  They also required at that time "home economics" 
for girls and "shop classes" for boys.  We were not allowed to choose 
which one we wanted, but were assigned based on gender.
 
-- Kristina

> 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.
> 
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