Originally Posted by intparent
Unfortunately, our girls still have to be pretty tough to succeed in some of the male dominated fields, even with their high IQs. My D20 is researching on campus in computer science at her college this summer (second summer on this project, so getting pretty knowlegable). Her prof arranged a conference call with some teams at other universities doing similar research so they could compare data and issues. Partway thru the call, my D recognized a problem a young man from another college was describing, and asked a question. Dead silence on the phone, then the guys says "Is there a GIRL on this call??". I give her prof credit, he said, "Yes, there are three WOMEN from my team on this call." Followed by awkward silence -- then the guy went on, and didn't acknowledge or answer her question! She was embarrassed and angry. It sure doesn't help her feel intellectually validated when that kind of crap happens. frown

Keeping in mind that this is just another college student behaving this way, and that therefore his reaction doesn't represent the reality of the industry in any way, I'd explain this reaction to my DD in terms of, "This guy is probably 35 and joining the call from his mom's basement. The question had nothing to do with computing, and everything to do with the fact that he hasn't spoken to a female who wasn't his mother in the last seven years."