Club Fair – nature or nuture

I was definitely at a disadvantage when it came to setting up my (Raspberry) Pi Factory stall at the Club Fair today. I was teaching right up to the start time and by the time I had persuaded a student to help me lug the screen, keyboard, cables, mouse, 7 Raspberry Pis and assorted peripherals down the road to the other campus, the thing was in full swing.

By the time I set the stall up the students for some unknown (but ludicrous) reason had been allowed free access to the microphone and volume control and were screaming into it. It was so loud that nobody could ask and answer any questions and eventually I had to leave the room so I could discuss the club. Kids and microphones should never mix unless it’s in a Karaoke Club in a different city to me!

There was a steady stream of boys stopping at the table to have a go as all the girls walked quickly past. I was pleased to find Grom who is a already a Raspberry Pi enthusiast and even has one himself and I’m trying to persuade him to help me out on a Wednesday evening.

I was a little disappointed but not altogether surprised that there weren’t any girls (apart from me) interested in computing. After all, our brains are wired the same – we have the same mental capacity and reasoning so why don’t so many girls do computing. Is it really so deeply entrenched in our culture that girls are good at art and languages and can’t do maths or computing?

I am often told by girls ‘I am a girl and so I am terrible at maths’ – why is this? Are we girls really doomed to dull life of accounting and finance? Why can’t we do the exciting things too? Is this fear or reluctance to do technical things nature or nurture?