From: usenet@baradel.demon.co.uk   
      
   In message   
   , David   
   Friedman  writes   
   >In article <7yVE2JDo5sMJFwaM@baradel.demon.co.uk>,   
   > Helen Hall  wrote:   
   >   
   >> In message   
   >> , David   
   >> Friedman  writes   
   >> >In article ,   
   >> > Helen Hall  wrote:   
   >> >> >   
   >> >> As I said in another post, TV is one. Where is the TV drama that shows   
   >> >> mathematicians and physicists as cool, sexy and earning lots of money?   
   >> >   
   >> >Is this a difference between TV men watch and TV women watch?   
   >> >   
   >> No, as far as I know, boys are equally affected by the desire to emulate   
   >> the career choices shown on TV, but the few mathematicians and   
   >> physicists shown are almost invariably men.   
   >   
   >Which suggests that TV is not one explanation of the difference, which I   
   >thought was what you were suggesting.   
   >   
   I was suggesting  -- or rather I was passing on something I read   
   recently -- that young people are influenced by what they see on TV.   
   Girls see women barristers and forensic scientists and pathologists.   
   They *don't* see women physicists or mathematicians. Boys see male   
   barristers and forensic scientists, the few physicists and   
   mathematicians are most likely male, they're also more likely to be   
   taught by a male teacher. Thus the boys are more likely to have role   
   models in pure science and maths while girls don't. So yes, I was   
   suggesting that TV was one reason for the difference.   
      
   Helen   
   --   
   Helen, Gwynedd, Wales *** http://www.baradel.demon.co.uk   
      
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