zlacker

>>andren+(OP)
I'm a PhD student at a UK university. From what I've seen in my department (Engineering) there are about 3 women for every 5 men, both in staff and students, a not unreasonable ratio. However, I struggle to remember more than a couple of women who are British or from an English-speaking country. The majority come from India, China, the rest of Europe, the Middle East etc.

I've also seen this in the six years I worked in the UK as a developer, before starting my PhD. Of the women developers I worked with, (in this case, not so many) the majority were Indian or Eastern or Southern European. The same goes for the students in my data science Masters (also in a UK university).

Other women I've discussed this with, have similar experiences. In particular Greek women (like myself) don't remember any perception of a strong bias in numbers against women in STEM subjects. I have a fair few Greek women friends who have bachelors or master's degrees in computer science.

All this is of course anecdotal but it makes me think there is some sort of bias that is not explained by "interest in things" vs "interest in people", or any such difference between the sexes, because it is particular to specific cultures, rather than to the sexes around the globe.

In any case "gendered interest" sounds like a convenient oversimplification that seeks to confirm cultural bias as natural and spontaneous, rather than an attempt to understand it. Instead of answering any questions it passes the buck; it leaves someone else to wonder why girls and boys are interested in different things (e.g. fire trucks vs barbie dolls). The same goes for academic performance in school: that is also an observation that requires an explanation- not an explanation in and of itself.

>>YeGobl+md
I'd never really paid attention to this, but now that you mention it, the Dutch company I work for has 4 female developers, 3 of which are Indian.

>>donkey+Gg
I would expect immigrants to more frequently choose careers that require fewer linguistic skills, such as engineering or music, rather than law or advertising, say.

Some of my engineer colleagues are very hard to understand on the phone because of their language. It's hard to imagine them getting anywhere as a lawyer, for example.

>>bloak+Im
In the UK, a large number of doctors and medical staff are foreign, particularly Indian or EU citizens. For Indians I'm guessing English is not a problem because they learn it at school, especially the ones from the poshest backgrounds. EU citizens will have similar command of English. For those who have studied in British institutions, foreign language courses are mandatory if they can't prove a level of English that allows them to participate in the courses.

>>YeGobl+jV
Not contradicting, but adding to that:

Some Indians speak English fluently, but in a way that most British people find incomprehensible. In contrast, and somewhat ironically, a German speaking bad English is often easier to understand than a random British person (as opposed to a British person from one's own social class and locality).

The level of English knowledge you need to study maths or engineering at a British university is obviously very much lower than the level required for studying law or working as a lawyer. Some otherwise intelligent people are bad at languages and will realistically never achieve knowledge of another language to a level sufficient to successfully work as a lawyer. In fact, I have been reliably informed that some Germans give up on physics as a career because they realise that they will never manage to learn English well enough to succeed in academia, which is a bit sad, really.