On 13 Mar 2017, at 11:18, jtuchel@objektfabrik.de wrote:
I am not sure if programming courses exclusively for girls would be helpful. Here in Germany, some schools tried to separate classes for Math and Physics, and thus help girls find their fascination for these among girls, but the results were not really game-changing. The theory behind that was that girls might shy away from saying something in class because the boys would make fun of them if they give wrong answers. But it seems that was not the problem.
In Australia studies have shown that single sex classes for STEM in primary and secondary education leads to better outcomes for girls. The conclusion is that a) boys are more aggressive at answering, and overestimate their competence, and that exactly the opposite applies to girls. OTOH, boys do worse in single-sex situations, but then educational outcomes for boys are getting *comparatively* worse across the board in Australia, because outcomes for girls are improving. But there is a significant drop-off when it comes to career choices, so the improving educational results aren't necessarily translating. We have a variety of affirmative action programs in Australia to help deal with this issue, although most are focussed on helping Aboriginal students, whose life, health, educational and career outcomes are a national disgrace. Antony Blakey ------------------- Ph: +31 623 281 557