Mix of men and women in physics classes

[streeters]

What is the mix of men and women in your physics classes at uni?

I am right to expect a sausage-fest?

 

[Defennder]

Expect men to overwhelmingly outnumber females. The male-female ratio is even worse for computer science.

 

[Nick M]

For Physics I & II w/Calculus, the ratio was probably two guys for every girl.
In my math classes (Calculus I-III) the ratio is actually 50/50, except for Linear Algebra, where we had 5 guys and 1 girl.

 

[mhazelm]

My classes are overwhelmingly dominated by males. We also don't have a single female faculty member here.

 

[streeters]

Expect men to overwhelmingly outnumber females. The male-female ratio is even worse for computer science.

lol I might take french as an elective instead then.

 

[Defennder]

As someone said here, in maths the ratio is rather even. I would say that for my math classes, I saw more girls than guys in tutorials.

 

[Topher925]

At my uni, its about 50/50 for introductory math but not advanced math. All engineering courses may have a guy to girl ratio of 20-1 if there is even a girl in the class. The only science related field that has any girls is biology and medical sciences and that's basically it. My school has a ratio of 2.5 girls to every guy, yet I never see any of the girls. :(

 

[Choppy]

It's best not to pick the subjects you study based on perceived dating prospects.

 

[tmc]

Here, math is about 1:1, whereas physics is about 4:1.

 

[thebluelagoon]

Oh cool, I'm planning to take physics. And Maths Camp was 4:1. At least the girls you get in those classes are quality though jj

 

[eri]

My undergrad classes were all women, but that might have been because I went to a women's college. Which I would highly recommend for any women planning to go into computer science, physics, or engineering. Great education and you don't have to fight over the equipment.

Once I got to grad school for physics, there were about twice as many guys as girls.

 

[Enzo]

In my engineering physics class, the ratio was probably close to...50 male to 1 female..

 

[Mentallic]

lol I might take french as an elective instead then.

I didn't know tertiary education was also for getting the babes :tongue:

For me it seems promising because girls are just a distraction in class, even when the guys are the ones chatting in class.

 

[tim_lou]

From what I know, there are pretty much only two or three female physics majors in my year. And from what I've seen, the ratio is more like 10:1 (specially true when there are like only 4 people in the class).

 

[xfoo]

How do you come up with a 10:1 ratio when there are only 4 people in the class?

There is a surprisingly small male:female ratio in my classes; I'd estimate it to be 3:1 to 4:1.

 

[Mentallic]

How do you come up with a 10:1 ratio when there are only 4 people in the class?

Males fill up the classes, with the occasional female in 40% of these sized classes?

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

I think it's better that there's a small percentage of women in maths and physics advanced classes, cause then as someone here already said your attention is pointed to the material not to the women there.

Women can ruine your grades!
But then again, these are women and the grades are just numbers, and pointless numbers at that.

I remember in my first class in analysis on manifolds this past year there was one female student in class, and I remember that my attention was divided between looking at her and writing the notes from the lectruer (who wasn't female, ofcourse).
Luckily for me she didn't continue to take this class. (-:

Maths and women don't go together!

Well they can, but for men they can't.

 

[streeters]

Women can ruin your grades!

But they're so much fun!

Ok, when I started this thread I wasn't expecting people to start talking about the Evils of Woman, let alone the Weaknesses of Man. I'd like to think most of us are not the Nerds people expect us to be (by that I mean we do have social skills that don't need a keyboard).

Interesting to see how other people function though.

 

[Phrak]

Expect men to overwhelmingly outnumber females. The male-female ratio is even worse for computer science.

why do you say worse rather than better. what's your problem?

You all blow me away. It's like peeling an onion and finding nothing to peel.

 

[Andy Resnick]

I agree with Phrak- there's something vaguely distateful about this thread.

 

[Defennder]

why do you say worse rather than better. what's your problem?

You all blow me away. It's like peeling an onion and finding nothing to peel.

You are reading too literally into my words here. "Worse" in this context doesn't imply that it is bad or undesirable in any way. What would the vast majority of people here have thought if I had said "even better" instead? That I dislike the idea of females in the sciences?

I had thought my intended meaning was obvious enough as it is.

 

[Mentallic]

My high school physics class consists of 10 boys to each girl (sounds awfully like a horrific gang-rape) and my chemistry class is about 1:1.
I've noticed this elsewhere too, including the stats obtained from this thread. Is it something about physics that women avoid?

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

But they're so much fun!

Ok, when I started this thread I wasn't expecting people to start talking about the Evils of Woman, let alone the Weaknesses of Man. I'd like to think most of us are not the Nerds people expect us to be (by that I mean we do have social skills that don't need a keyboard).

Interesting to see how other people function though.

You know that there are people who are too shy for asking a woman out, regardless of being a nerd or not.

 

[ice109]

no most physics majors do have terrible social skills.

and yes there are oh so few girls in physics classes and even fewer cute ones. it gets better in grad school though cause foreigners come here to study and in a lot of foreign countries the culture encourages women to pursue science.

 

[tim_lou]

I agree with Phrak- there's something vaguely distateful about this thread.

I don't know what's more distasteful... this thread itself, or me actually following up on this thread.

Anyway, as someone said above, social interactions are one of the many sacrifices one has to make to completely focus on something. At least it is true for me (I don't mean a completely 0 social interaction, but a reduced one). There just isn't time for a serious relationship. My hypothesis is that a lot more men than women are willing to make that sacrifice.

 

[Mentallic]

My hypothesis is that a lot more men than women are willing to make that sacrifice.

Could you possibly support this with an educated explanation of why this might be so?

 

[streeters]

My high school physics class consists of 10 boys to each girl (sounds awfully like a horrific gang-rape) and my chemistry class is about 1:1.
I've noticed this elsewhere too, including the stats obtained from this thread. Is it something about physics that women avoid?

All I saw scrolling down the page was "gang-rape" and I started peeling with laughter.
The things I never thought I'd read on this forum

 

[Phrak]

You are reading too literally into my words here. "Worse" in this context doesn't imply that it is bad or undesirable in any way. What would the vast majority of people here have thought if I had said "even better" instead? That I dislike the idea of females in the sciences?

I had thought my intended meaning was obvious enough as it is.

Just a casual challenge. No problem.

 

[tim_lou]

Could you possibly support this with an educated explanation of why this might be so?

Not really. It's just sort of a hunch I have. I just feel that women tend to have better social skills; therefore they must put more time in it, and so that it must be more important to them.

 

[Mentallic]

Not really. It's just sort of a hunch I have. I just feel that women tend to have better social skills; therefore they must put more time in it, and so that it must be more important to them.

I thought we were talking about women distracting the men in classes due to sexual reasons. This is the difference between being able to concentrate in class, even though your friends are around; and being distracted in class by a girl you never speak to.

 

[spindash]

I think it's better that there's a small percentage of women in maths and physics advanced classes, cause then as someone here already said your attention is pointed to the material not to the women there.

Women can ruin your grades!
But then again, these are women and the grades are just numbers, and pointless numbers at that.

I remember in my first class in analysis on manifolds this past year there was one female student in class, and I remember that my attention was divided between looking at her and writing the notes from the lectruer (who wasn't female, ofcourse).
Luckily for me she didn't continue to take this class. (-:

Maths and women don't go together!

Well they can, but for men they can't.

If you're in an advanced math course of any kind and doing fine, you obviously have an excellent attention span, and enough self control and responsibility in general to do everything you have to to make it into university. You have all the mental faculties you need to ignore the girl and focus on your studies. Playing the guy card and saying it's too hard is at least as bad as girls who want to be treated as an equal until there is something to pay for and then play the girl card. Sexism is fun when it benefits you! Not.