Here's an exciting first which hopefully indicates a promising trend: This year women outnumber men in UC Berkeley's introductory computer science course. The fieldĀ is vastly dominated by men, and the Berkeley course seems to be an exception, according to Tech Crunch. The difference is small--106 women to 104 men; yet the potential reasons why there is this rare lead provides invaluable insight into how to attract more women to computer science.
Overall, the number of women in the STEM world has been down since 1991. What is Berkeley doing right? Professor Dan Garcia, who taught the class last spring, attributes the increase to significantly more team-based project learning and increased opportunities for students to become teaching assistants. Tech Crunch provides interesting data on computer science's gender gap overall. And Maria Konnikova for Big Think breaks down different approaches for understanding the gender gap in education and the workplace.
Image credit: Seattle Municipal Archives/Flickr
The 4 types of thinking talents: Analytic, procedural, relational and innovative
Understanding thinking talents in yourself and others can build strong teams and help avoid burnout.
- Learn to collaborate within a team and identify "thinking talent" surpluses ā and shortages.
- Angie McArthur teaches intelligent collaboration for Big Think Edge.
- Subscribe to Big Think Edge before we launch on March 30 to get 20% off monthly and annual memberships.
Herodotusā mystery vessel turns out to have been real
Archeologists had been doubtful since no such ship had ever been found.
- In 450 BCE, Greek historian Herodotus described a barge that's never been found.
- When the ancient port of Thonis-Heracleion was discovered, some 70 sunken ships were found resting in its waters.
- One boat, Ship 17, uncannily matches the Herodotus' description.
Horseshoe crabs are drained for their blue blood. That practice will soon be over.
The blood of horseshoe crabs is harvested on a massive scale in order to retrieve a cell critical to medical research. However, recent innovations might make this practice obsolete.
- Horseshoe crabs' blue blood is so valuable that a quart of it can be sold for $15,000.
- This is because it contains a molecule that is crucial to the medical research community.
- Today, however, new innovations have resulted in a synthetic substitute that may end the practice of farming horseshoe crabs for their blood.
Jordan Peterson on Joe Rogan: The gender paradox and the importance of competition
The Canadian professor has been on the Joe Rogan Experience six times. There's a lot of material to discuss.
- Jordan Peterson has constantly been in the headlines for his ideas on gender over the last three years.
- While on Joe Rogan's podcast, he explains his thoughts on the gender differences in society.
- On another episode, Peterson discusses the development of character through competition.
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