Hacker News Reader

Comment by belorn | Hacker News Reader

Any source for your claim? Is classes for girls better in producing hackers, ie, someone who is passionate about programming to the point of both work and hobby?

I sincerely doubt it, but feel free to prove me wrong.

View on HN

Hi, personal experience is my source and the fact that I come across very very very few other technical women in my field, and when I do they benefit from small, gender-balanced or single-gender classes. I think what works best for girls depends on their age - and there are a lot of studies out there showing that boys also do better in puberty in single-gender classes.

"Single-sex schools do not provide any social or educational benefits over coeducational programs within the public school system, according to a study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Their findings dispel assertions from proponents of same-sex schools that boys and girls learn differently and must therefore be separated to reach their full potential.

The team of psychologists examined all available research on single-sex education published within the past seven years, which included 184 studies comprising 1.6 million students from kindergarten to 12th grade in 21 different countries, and found no evidence to support proponents’ claims.

In their study, which appeared Monday in Psychological Bulletin, a journal published by the American Psychological Association, the psychologists said that students who attended single-sex schools weren’t any better off than peers who attended coed programs in terms of self-esteem or performance in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects."

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/2/5/study-single-...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com