Women and Science: Around the Blogs

I've gotten way behind on my posting, so this blog overview will be a long one.

Annika, at Rants of a Feminist Engineer has a list of journal links for them interested in exploring feminist engineering and technology studies.

The Female CS Grad Student points to the disconnect between the diversity of the scientific community depicted on posters and reality.

Incoherently Scattered Ponderings lays out the cold facts: there are far more PhDs than academic positions:

Therefore, I find it somewhat disingenuous when people start talking about how to encourage certain underrepresented groups enter graduate schools in sciences. We should encourage interest in science, but should we encourage more bright and talented people to follow the career path that has 95% chance of leading nowhere (after 6-7 years of living on Raman noodles through grad school and relocating a few times for a couple of 3 year postdoc stints that quickly become the norm)? I am not so sure... (via She's Such a Geek)

She's Such a Geek talks about 3-D Sex and the Computer Scientist and a real-life example of a woman discouraged from pursing a computer science career because of assumptions about the required aptitudes needed.

She's Such a Geek also points out that Girl Scouts Teach Technophilia. Much more interesting than the lanyard-making of my Girl Scout days!

Marketing to Women Online has an interesting post on Male vs. Female Communication Style and Project Management.

Now - from a male communication style - if you are dealing with a senior executive or a company owner, it is good to convey confidence. I can see senior executives and managers hearing "you suck" and thinking -

"well, if we're that bad, then there must be huge potential to the upside. We can make all sorts of money if our previous efforts were that bad and did OK."

There is this whole male hierarchical thing. I see guys posturing for dominance. It's interesting to watch. And, in many cases, it seems to be effective.

But here's where the problem comes in. Project management and teamwork often requires more of a female communication style. A "let's work together, support each other, all pitch in to be successful" line of reasoning.

It's about the advertising industry, but I think much of it could apply to science and engineering teams as well.

Last, but definitely not least, it looks like there is going to be a blog carnival on women in science and technology. Feminist Engineer is asking for name suggestions, so head over and comment.

Tags: women in science