Are women less interested than men in certain subjects?

I watch Jeopardy! every night -- it is hands down one of my favorite shows.

I couldn't help but notice that men tend to dominate when it comes to certain categories, including:

History
Political science
Geography
Science
Math

On the other hand, women fare a lot better at subjects like food, poetry, writing, language, and entertainment.

I've heard for years now that there's a major shortage in women embarking on careers in such sciences as engineering. It seems hard to believe, as I found many of the brightest students in my math and science classes to be female.

It seems more women like gravitating toward the soft/people sciences (psychology, sociology, and so on) than the natural variety (chemistry, biology, etc.).

Well, I'm living proof (as you can see by this blog) that men, too, can be passionate about the softer, people-driven sciences. I've always been math- and science-averse, a stark contrast to my wife, who's a science teacher and certainly proud of it.

What about you? Do you fancy math and science? If not, which ones tickle your fancy?

Comments

Anonymous said…

I majored in biochemistry, minored in chemistry. Truth is that education in the physical sciences/math is geared towards the male gender. I remember sitting through my chemistry classes wondering why they were using only combustion engines as examples and case studies. One of our final essays had to do with improving electric vehicles.

It's chemistry for goodness sake and therefore can be applied to anything.

Imagine the gender makeup of a chemistry class that focused on cooking, personal hygiene products and other examples along those lines.

December 4, 2014 at 9:26 PM

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