How can I encourage my daughters to consider traditionally male dominated careers?

[meinus]

I've been trying to expose my daughters to career areas that are traditionally male dominant. I wanted to share this video because I like how it simply shows a young woman 'as' an engineer and they liked the fun machine setting: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XppH0LJ7c4E
Has anyone seen any other good videos like this that I could show them?

I think they should consult patients to see what their views are on the subject of what makes 'better doctors'.

I think 'they' do ask patients just that and trainee doctors are told the results while still in med school. Google 'standardised patient' to see the type of feedback practising doctors can get on their consulting skills, too.

But why do we want more girls to do stem?

Because it's paid more? As posters have said it isn't always.

Because it's higher status? Shouldn't we be questioning why it's higher status?

Stem jobs aren't higher status than a lot of other professions.

We 'want more girls to do stem' because they are underepresented (in some areas).

This is primarily because that a lot don't properly consider it at the moment because of stereotyping. It's not that we want every girl to be an engineer or scientist - just that the ones whom it really would suit, for whom it would fulfil their potential, should not miss out on the opportunities in these areas.

Exactly. Some girls who could be really good at and enjoy STEM careers are being put off them for the wrong reasons (ie "those are for boys").

And VV for boys - though this is generally rather less perceived as a problem because stereotypically female jobs tend to be lower status.

Round pegs need to be encouraged into square holes - not told that they should be square pegs.

But lots of occupations are almost exclusively male and we don't hear stress about them being opened up to women ....
because they are low status

FWIW
DDs friend who had considered a degree in accountancy is now looking at engineering - because the 6th Form college has opened her eyes to the opportunities.
whereas DD is now looking more at a pure science degree ....

But if it's just about under representation then why is there not the same level of concern with the low number of female plumbers, joiners, electricians etc?

Or the number of male childcarers, carers, cleaners?

This kind of thing is why people label feminism adjust something of concern to white middle class western women. (It isn't but threads like this don't help us analyse the deeper issues of why we undervalue the work that women do do).

Jackie
I do accounts for lots of tradesmen - whose industries are pretty much 98% male
in a couple of cases the physical nature of the work is on a par with the Marines for excluding most women
but actually the macho culture of crap jokes, crap radio and low level tax fraud is as off-putting to women as the hours stupidity that goes on in the "professions"

There is no reason why more women are not £70k a year plumbers and electricians other than crass sexism that starts in year 9 when the college courses are allocated.

One of the best industrial painters I know (industrial = hanging from the ceiling of a warehouse in an abseil harness electrostatic painting girders)
is a lady whose dad did the job
she is thorough, tidy, diligent, used to play football for a world class ladies team and puts up with no shit at all
all of us who think we are tough in professional fields have nothing on her

You're right, of course - while there have been mentions of boys who want to be carers etc or girls who want to be car mechanics, most of the discussion on this sort of thread is informed by our own experiences

ds1 is doing an engineering degree at one of the top rg units for that subject, and I was very surprised and pleased to hear that a third of his course were female.

I know there is SoME evidence that male and female brains are wired differently even at birth with males better at spatial stuff and females at empathetic stuff overall.

I know there is some evidence that male and female brains are wired differently even at birth with males better at spatial stuff and females at empathetic stuff overall.

I don't know of any credible evidence demonstrating this.

It is completely impossible to test children before they are around one or so but then they have already been treated differently according to their gender.

There are interesting statistics on women in science and engineering:

www.wes.org.uk/sites/default/files/Women%20in%20Engineering%20Statistics%20February%202014.pdf

This also discusses the shortage of STEM workers in the UK.

This article www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2013/dec/04/male-female-brains-real-differences address the issue of 'difference' between male and female brains succinctly.

love that article GB

It's a work of art, isn't it?

That article is indeed wonderful.
Love the reference links

Cauchy
Yup STEM has an issue, but it is not a unique one.
In fact the issue has little to do with STEM and a lot to do with the patriachal society we are emerging from.

the links are to Guardian articles!! Hardly research papers!

Have you read it, Alice? It's a parody, hence the grins.

This thread has just reminded me that I really must finish reading 'Delusions of Gender'. You might find it interesting, Alice - it suggests a lot of the 'evidence' about brain difference isn't particularly solid. Whereas evidence relating to the effects of conditioning and stereotype threat and sheer bias is rather startling.(and lots of proper research references, of course!)

You can get to some of the actual research papers from the links to other guardian pieces. Here's one of my favourite bits from this abstract of the pretty brain maps one:

Analysis of these changes developmentally demonstrated differences in trajectory between males and females mainly in adolescence and in adulthood. Overall, the results suggest that male brains are structured to facilitate connectivity between perception and coordinated action, whereas female brains are designed to facilitate communication between analytical and intuitive processing modes.

So.... seems they have a study which shows that some differences develop but make an assertion that /female brains are designed'.

aah no -didn't read it blushb