[AGDee]

I somehow missed the whole math/science bias all through school. At least half (if not more) of the students in my AP math and science classes were girls all through junior high and high school. Of the top 10 of my class of 700+, 7 of the 10 were girls. In college, my Anatomy, Physiology and Neuroanatomy classes were almost all women (because we were Occupational Therapy majors primarily, but they were also the pre-med classes).

I work for a Biostatistics department and the PhD statisticians are: 3 female, 3 male. Our masters level statisticians are all female. BIO STATISTICIANS... you don't get more math/science than that!

And gee, I'm one of the network "guys" now (blink). How did that happen?

My mom was a medical technologist. Most medical technologists are women. They work in a lab with... math and science. Most nurses are women.. math and science. Dieticians.. math and science. Physical Therapists... math and science. Those are all traditionally female occupations.

I believe some people experienced this and I know there is research that shows it to be true as young as elementary school, but I sure didn't experience it at all. Someone forgot to tell me that I wasn't supposed to be good in math and science!

I will admit that the female statisticians with whom I work do not care a lick about their clothes, hair style, make up, etc. but that's true of the male statisticians too. Statisticians simply don't give a darn about those things. They are not people focused and don't care what others think of them. They're very cool, down to earth people (except when their SAS server is down, then they get edgy). Also, their minds work differently than everybody elses!

Dee

ETA: The female statisticians are all married to really brainy men too! AND, the two single/never been married statisticians are MEN (very geeky and socially inept men).