I gave all my classes this riddle this week - 3 kids got the answer.

I was pleased dd said mum straight away. But then she said she’d heard it before but said she would’ve said that anyway.

user - I admire your DD's thoroughness. However, all her solutions assume that the doctor is speaking the truth. Maybe the patient is a doppleganger, or the doctor was inventing an excuse not to operate.

DD (12) thought for a couple of minutes and then gave the options of mum, same-sex marriage dad or two dads through adoption (in this order). Most of her thinking time was wondering if there were any other possible scenarios. She is thorough!

I tried this riddle on my friend. His mum is a doctor. STILL got it wrong

I don't think getting the wrong answer to this has anything to do with sexism / unconcious bias against women.

As someone pointed out the 2 male characters leads one to think the next unspecified character will be of the same sex- hence the gay dad or, if it is a mother and daughter, the lesbian mum answers.

Reading the wrong answers on here I now think this was a failed experiment if the OP was using it to try to highlight sexism/ bias. It shows the listener can be steered by the repetition of he/ his/him but that is a different issue.

A better test would have been to ask the class to write a short story about a day in the life of a firefighter, doctor, pilot, police officer.

My 8 yo dd just got it right! She gave it a few seconds thought and then said mum

I just asked my year 7 , first answer has 2 dad’s but before I had chance to respond said mum.

Lol great joke, works all the time ! Shocking

Just tried it on my lot: DS1 (11) first thought it was the step dad but then quickly changed to the mum. DS2 (8) got it first time . DS3 (5) just said “I dunno” and buggered off to fiddle with his Lego. He’s going through an awkward stage since birth

Just asked DS2 (16) and he instantly said the Doctor is his Mum. Then went off muttering about how was it a riddle when it was so obvious. Will ask DD2 when she eventually wakes up.

Try asking but making the child a daughter - people seem to get it more often in that case. I guess the juxtaposition of her and she with the doctor does it.

I remember being asked this at about age 6. And not getting it then. I am shocked that 33 years later it’s still an issue

DH was shocked he didn’t get the answer right and is now feeling really bad about it. .

With two daughters and a feminist wife, I’m surprised he didn’t get it right but I think the sense of shame will do him good anyway. 😂

Oddly enough, I asked my two this over the summer (camping/raining/googled for riddles and brainteasers). Preteen dd and 7yo ds both got it instantly. I'd like to say due to feminism because both are v aware of my feminist leanings but they're also just good at riddles. DH couldn't understand how it even worked as a riddle ie of course a child has at least one other parent.

A doctor and a boy were fishing. The boy was the doctors son, but the doctor was not the boys father. Who was the doctor?

Isn't there a big prompt in the question? If the doctor is not his father would one's brain not just default to mother as the opposite of father?.

The first version led one's thinking on to expect another male character- this one invites you think of the opposite.

The "draw a firefighter" test is neutral.

There's an alternative version which avoids the valid answer of 2 gay dads (which I don't suppose anyone considered when the riddle first started circulating decades ago, so that's progress anyway)

A doctor and a boy were fishing. The boy was the doctors son, but the doctor was not the boys father. Who was the doctor?

You could try that one with girl/daughter and a different activity to test biases other than doctor=Male

I tried this riddle on my friend. His mum is a doctor. STILL got it wrong

I asked my DC this years ago and they got it no problem, maybe because our gp and our dentist are both women. I think nurses are still assumed to be female though.

My (male) partner didn’t get it 🙄

I know a woman called Bob.

I recall this from thirty odd years ago at school.
Cannot believe it is being used at graduate level now. Graduate level! And still worse, people are flummoxed.

Without reading the whole thread anyone familiar with Blackaddet knows Bib is a girl. Also I expect that if the riddle was a man and his daughter went to hospital you might get very different results.

I also ask my undergrads to discuss the words they associate with certain professions or people in society.....the most interesting discussion is around the different narrative around single mother and single father.

But I think you are looking for a cryptic solution

I think the point of this is not the gender of the professions listed, it is because it is a riddle, you mentally think - they are looking for some tricky thing that told us how they knew which one of the 3 similar people was Bob, in other words, the structure of the riddle is leading you to assume 3 men, not because of the professions, but because you are looking for some trick.

The fact that the solution is gender, is a bit of a let down, too mundane!

Much more powerful to me is that clip upthread where you ask kids to draw a fire fighter /surgeon and fighter pilot, and they all draw men

That was a much better example. I blame Fireman Sam for at least part of it. To be accurate the vast majority, but not all, drew men.