Gender and Education

Here in the United States we live in a country where families do not have to worry about the sex of their child. Except for some societal norms our children are created equal in most areas of our country. Everyone can vote, work, and even run for office. However, not all countries are lucky like us. There are some countries that hold different sexes to a higher degree than others. What does this do the psychological state of a child? Even though we do not enforce any rule against the different genders pursuing their dream, do we have societal occurrences that pin one gender against the other? This article takes a brief look into how our education system differs for the different sexes. Is there a difference? If there is, why is there one?

It is often debated whether or not our educational system offers the same opportunities to both genders in our country. Currently, we are seeing that more women pursue a higher education and are continuing to earn higher degrees. What is the reason for this occurrence? If this is a true development, why are men still earning more than women on average? Women earn more secondary degrees including; associates, bachelors, and masters. Yet men earn more doctoral degrees than women.

It is shown that women in the United States dominate men in writing abilities, but then fall short in math and science. Why are these trends continuing to happen this way? The notion of the hidden curriculum suggests that women are discriminated against in the education system. It believes that teachers provide special privileges to boys and as a result they become more social and learn more. However, if this notion is true, then why are more than 50% of higher education degrees going to females? If we do pay more to males in the formative years, where does the disconnect begin and when do women start surpassing males?

Some argue that this gender gap would be solved if we went to same gender class room styles. They say that this would get rid of the hidden curriculum notion because all of the students within the classroom would then have the same equal chance to get help or participate. However, would this add further to societal gender notions?

We know that this phenomenon is a problem in teaching the children, but how does this translate to those who try learning online. Typically they do not have face time with their professors, so how can you truly guess one's gender? In a day where there are examples of unisex names, how can you assume that you are teaching a girl or a boy? Therefore, wouldn't there be less bias if someone were to attend an online school to further their education. The students are forced to excel at their work without having the face to face communication and feedback with their teachers. If this thought it would then become more about those who have the initiative to ask for help and participate, rather than if a particular gender is doing it. Will we ever see a decrease in the gender gap?

Cassandra Picard,
Online Education

Would You Believe Dust?

"Uh-oh," I said quietly to myself. Of course now my husband is listening and he says, "Uh-oh what?" "Nothing," I say, not sounding very confident. "Well, it must be something. What happened?" says he. "I'm not sure, but I think our computer has decided to take a permanent vacation," I replied.

Our computer had been doing weird things over the previous week. Things like taking forever to boot up, taking forever to shut down, shutting down altogether in the middle of whatever, sluggishness, and complete unco-operation. We thought it was "just time." Time to upgrade what we have or buy a new computer and we couldn't afford either one at the time.

A friend of ours who knows his way around computers came over to take a look at it. He asked me to take the cover off the tower, then he said he was going to try blowing the dust out of it first. I'm thinkin', "C'mon! Enough foolin' around! I want/need to get on my computer!" So he blew a dust storm out of the tower with our air compressor, put the cover back on the tower and fired 'er up. I squeezed my eyes shut and gritted my teeth hoping for the best. When I opened my eyes again, not only was the computer running, but the desktop was already up and completely running! It was lagging anymore and it was booting up and shutting down like the speedy demon it is.

Dust. Dust. I can't believe it was just dust. I was so relieved that the problem was so simple and easily fixed. Yay! Which of course got me thinking about other electronics and appliances. By blowing the dust out of our refrigerator it now runs more quietly and efficiently. Our t.v. stopped making this annoying, high-pitched beeping sound. My box fan I must have running 24/7 regained the highest speed. Now I keep a lot of things around the house blown out about every six months.

My mother took her computer to a computer repair guy because her computer was doing the same thing mine was. She said he did everything but blow the damn thing up and it still refused to work. I asked her if he blew the dust out of it with an air compressor and no, he hadn't. I told her to bust out the ol' air compressor and blow the dust out of it. She did and it fired up and worked just as it was supposed to with none of the previous problems. I guess the computer guy was sick that day...

So before you panic and run out and spend exorbitant amounts of money on repairs, software and anti-viruses, look at the vent on the side of your tower. If you can see dust there, I promise you, there is dust throughout and it is a huge burden to your computer (or other electronics and appliances). Dust slows down the fans, conducts electricity, and causes appliances and electronics to overheat. Sort of like making sure something is plugged in before you start troubleshooting anything else, blow the dust out and take troubleshooting from there. After that, a good blow job to your appliances and electronics about every 3-6 months and it will keep them running cool, quiet, and efficient!