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by ObviousScience 4240 days ago
I dropped out of a teaching track to switch to hard math and CS because of the cliquish behavior and their constant negative comments about men creating a hostile environment - much the same complaints women make about the tech sector.

Saying that the fields are recruiting men is no more to the point than saying CS departments are recruiting women: it doesn't matter if you don't address the toxic social environment as well.
1 comments
vacri 4240 days ago
It does, however, counter the parent, who said "No problem, women are better at these jobs anyway". People do think it's a problem, and there are efforts trying to counter that problem, same as with women in technical fields.
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belorn 4239 days ago
I can't say I have ever heard of a male conference or affirmative action ever being suggested to solve the gender distribution in the therapists profession. No one is creating male-only therapists schools. No feminist politician is dedicating budgets in order to fix it.

Yes, people do think its a problem, but the efforts to counter that problem is not even close as with women in technical fields. It easier to just put the blame on men, claiming that they do not want to do those jobs.

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vacri 4239 days ago
Well, therapy is an absolute minnow compared to 'tech', 'teaching', or 'nursing'. It's not a very visible profession, and most people outside that profession can't relate to it (and are even a little scared by it)

Speaking of minnows, I can't say I have ever heard of a female conference or affirmative action ever being suggested to solve the gender distribution in the commercial fishing industry. No-one is creating female-only commercial fishing licences. No politician is dedicating budgets in order to fix it. Commercial fishing is a bigger and more lucrative profession than therapy, yet there's no work towards affirmative action there.

So what does it mean that we can find specific, small industries here and there that don't have explicit action in these areas? Shall we continue to base arguments on the minnows, avoiding the larger stories about the bigger fish?

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