Originally Posted by Dude
Originally Posted by Bostonian
Anyone can attend meetings of the after-school math club. Who represents the school at meets is determined by who scores best on tryouts. I think that is impartial.

I have wondered if some non-Asian children and girls notice that the math club (or the local chess club) is mostly Asian and male and decide that it therefore not for them. But then it is their own biases that are at fault.

If participation on the math team is predicated on membership in the after-school math club, then that school is doing its team a tremendous disservice, because the majority of stellar math students have other interests besides math.

Besides, everyone knows the math club and the chess club are for NERDS*, right? Socially-conscious GT students avoid them in favor of more socially acceptable activities: sports, music, drama, debate team, robotics, etc.

*By this I mean gifted students who lag in social development. The Asian tiger-parenting method is known to inhibit social development.
Math club meets once a week. Students can participate in other extracurriculars and still be on the math team. Math team aspirants don't need need to be at each club meeting, although missing the material presented could disadvantage them. They do need to attend on tryout days. How would you choose team members for math meets?

If some kids who might benefit from math competitions think they are for nerds, that is their problem.