What is the number of males or females that post on SFN

[1veedo]

oh dear, you`re really not too terribly Observant then are you!

 

unless you mean Just in this Thread?

Oops you're right. I was basing this here (in another thread), http://scienceforums.net/forum/showthread.php?p=344440#post344440:

for those of you new to this forum, as far as i'm aware swansont is the only actual scientist (i.e., PhD, works as a research phisisisit. astrophisics, iirc) who's posted in this thread.

And then it turned out lucaspa had a phd in Biochemistry latter in that thread.

 

So that would make two, but that was only for that thread. I'm not sure how many there actually are, but I would guess more are "amateurs."

[Klaynos]

When you mention it, I can only think of three PhDed researchers off the top of my head, excluding as 1veedo seems to be students and amateurs and the like. Of course, I only post in the biology forums, so I don't encounter many of the physics or mathematics posters.

 

I can think of about 5 without really trying...

 

And male, and yes my desk when I have one is a mess, but when I steal other peoples labs I normally am crazyilly pedantic about putting everything back... but that's mainly because I'm a lowly undergrad....

[swansont]

Oops you're right. I was basing this here (in another thread), http://scienceforums.net/forum/showthread.php?p=344440#post344440:And then it turned out lucaspa had a phd in Biochemistry latter in that thread.

 

So that would make two, but that was only for that thread. I'm not sure how many there actually are, but I would guess more are "amateurs."

 

Though Dak wanted to clone me and make a swansont army of scientists, numbering in the thousands. <shudder>

 

I've always assumed you were all dogs, unless I had evidence to the contrary (e.g. intimate knowledge of how a doorknob works)

[ash_wolf]

Ash_wolf and thatbiologyg are liars. Liars!

 

haha yeah right i'm lying....why on earth would i want to pose as a female if i was a male??

[CharonY]

I've always assumed you were all dogs, unless I had evidence to the contrary (e.g. intimate knowledge of how a doorknob works)

I once had a dog who worked doorknobs quite well with his teeth. But then I guess anecdotal evidence shouldn't count.

 

haha yeah right i'm lying....why on earth would i want to pose as a female if i was a male?

Getting attention?

 

PhDs are overrated anyway. Doorknobs too. Bloody knobby things. No caffeeine left, either.

[CDarwin]

haha yeah right i'm lying....why on earth would i want to pose as a female if i was a male??

 

To tempt us. Although I do see your argument that being a male is inherently awesomer than being a female.

[Davidwood15]

There are no womens on the Internets. FACT.

 

Too True good sir!

[Mag]

haha yeah right i'm lying....why on earth would i want to pose as a female if i was a male??

 

you'd be surprised at the number of people that do that.

usually they'll do it for attention, or to trick people.

 

anyways, the type of forum also depends on the number of males to females.

for example:

Im on a car forum, there are probably 5-7 girls who post fairly often, compared to the 50+ men.

On The Sims forum (that I used to belong to) the women outnumbered the men by considerable margin (maybe 60/40 is my estimate).

and then of course, on a gaming forum, there might be 1-2 females, and the rest males.

[thatbiologyg]

I'd put them back right away, I just can't stand having a messy workspace. Also, I do have a little one and while she isn't walking yet, I foresee such issues in the future.

 

As for photographic evidence: http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t294/thatbiologygirl/midimommy.jpg Not lewd of course, I'm married woman after all .... ugh though I do look naked without my glasses.

[Phi for All]

I'd put them back right away, I just can't stand having a messy workspace. Also, I do have a little one and while she isn't walking yet, I foresee such issues in the future.

Oooooh, what a cute girl!! And you have a cute daughter too!

 

And there's a turtle to support the veracity of the claim. You can't lie with a turtle around.

 

I think it's a female turtle too.

[John Cuthber]

OK, that seems to be a picture of a female; how do we know it's you?

Mind you, since I'm a Martian I think the annonymity of the internet is very useful. You earthlings seem very prejudiced about those of us with green skin.

[CDarwin]

I'd put them back right away, I just can't stand having a messy workspace. Also, I do have a little one and while she isn't walking yet, I foresee such issues in the future.

 

As for photographic evidence: http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t294/thatbiologygirl/midimommy.jpg Not lewd of course, I'm married woman after all .... ugh though I do look naked without my glasses.

 

That's not the Knoxville Zoo turtle is it?

[Bettina]

I'm just not a scientist so feel a bit intimidated posting here..

 

Me too....

 

Bee

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I'm not a scientist (though I'm not female, either) by any means, and I've become part of the staff and a top poster.

 

Credentials aren't everything.

[Mag]

Credentials aren't everything.

 

Yes, but when you're writing a research paper they sure do help! lol.

 

In anycase, there are plenty of non-scientists here, just science-enthusiasts I guess you could say... like myself

[iNow]

Me too....

 

Bee

 

The way our society and culture have been positioned, "being a scientist" is a bit like "being a reader." Most everybody knows how, it's just that some people enjoy it more, do it more, or have specialites moreso than others. The fact that you're here posting suggests that you, too, are a curious being who wants to learn and share. Nothing wrong with that, eh?

 

(btw... very cute head shot. )

[swansont]

The way our society and culture have been positioned, "being a scientist" is a bit like "being a reader." Most everybody knows how, it's just that some people enjoy it more, do it more, or have specialites moreso than others.

 

Oh, I disagree. There's a huge swath of the population that simply has little clue about science and/or critical thinking, and a subset of them that are staunchly proud of it. Most of them don't post here, though.

[thatbiologyg]

A whole zoo devoted to turtles?!?! I have to go there sometime. The picture was taken at our local zoo. They recently acquired some very large, very old Galapagos tortoises and the statue was a donation to commemorate them.

 

As for the picture being me, I can't really prove it and photographic evidence is the worst kind... I could even be a cross dresser LOL But I'm not. Being a female biologist isn't all that odd; at my previous university there were more female majors than male. I wish I had a picture of my old lab desk, that would be the best proof LOL

 

I don't consider myself a scientist even though I've done research in a university setting, even though I've designed research projects and presented the results to my peers. I don't know enough to set up a really great experiment, I still don't understand the ins and outs of MacClade and I don't drink nearly enough coffee.

 

I don't even have my BS yet, even though I've been at it for many years... I get too distracted by great research projects, take a year off to work in a lab and then boom, now I'm a year later in graduating. (taking a year off to have a baby didn't help either). But I LOVE being in college, I LOVE research and I LOVE being the first person to find out something new- knowing even before the PI... it's such a rush.

 

The point I'm trying to make is that you don't have to be a scientist to be interested in science. I think everyone should be interested in science as it affects everyone on a daily basis. Stem cells for instance, I wish the populace was more familiar with the science of this issue. It kills me that there are so many people who are more interested in whether or not big foot exists or how many UFOs have made crop circles in Kansas than they are with understanding RNAi, gene therapy, super strings etc... For instance, the South American group of polyploid (having more than 2 sets of chromosomes) cotton that I worked on has one genome from a diploid South American cotton and one genome from a diploid African species... the most parsimonious explanation for this is that a seed from Africa found its way across the Atlantic ocean, germinated in South American and hybridized with a South American plant! Phylogenetic studies have supported this hypothesis and even suggest that the African plant was the pollen donor. I think this is just incredibly cool, but when I try to talk with other people about it, no one cares (except my husband, it's so nice being married to a fellow science geek).

 

What I'm trying to say, is that we need more people interested in science, not less and I would never make light of a question asked honestly. I'm not a scientist, but I love science. I hope you will all forgive me if I ask simple or foolish questions in the future as well (I'm sure I will) I also hope you'll forgive this off topic rant, I rambled for much longer than I had intended.

[CharonY]

Being a female biologist isn't all that odd; at my previous university there were more female majors than male.

Biology was always the most attractive natural science for females (maybe except psychology, though it can be disputed whether psychology as a whole plays in the same league as biology) and their numbers are still increasing. In the last few years in many universities (depending on country) there are already more female starting to study biology than males. Many males interested in biology move over to the new established fields of biotechnology and bioinformatics instead.

 

That was just to follow my usual habit of random quoting and then adding something vaguely related to it.

 

Now to another part: interest in science is of course a good thing. One problem is however is that in order to truly understand something at least a minimum of effort has to be invested (regardless whether you are trained scientist or layman). Quite a lot of people shy away from that part.

 

Also, coffee might help, but tea is also acceptable. Though I suspect that sleep deprivation is more indicative.

[thatbiologyg]

 

Also, coffee might help, but tea is also acceptable. Though I suspect that sleep deprivation is more indicative.

 

Hence the need for massive amounts of caffeine

[CharonY]

Too bad I am caffeine resistance, then

[CDarwin]

A whole zoo devoted to turtles?!?! I have to go there sometime.

 

Oh, no, no, the Knoxville Zoo just has a pair of Aldabran tortoises and a big copper statue of one in a setting a lot like that one and I thought "Hey, are you from East Tennessee?" but I guess not. You should go to the Knoxville Zoo sometime, though, and contribute to our tax base. We would appreciate that.

 

Being a female biologist isn't all that odd; at my previous university there were more female majors than male.

 

There are more female than male practicing primatologists. Someone even wrote a paper about it in American Anthropologist.

 

Fedigan, Linda Marie. American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 96, No. 3. (Sep., 1994), pp. 529-540.

[1veedo]

As for photographic evidence: http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t294/thatbiologygirl/midimommy.jpg Not lewd of course, I'm married woman after all

at my previous university there were more female majors than male.

Wow you're quite an accomplished 2 year old. Most people don't even start elementary school till they're 5 or 6.

[John Cuthber]

I think anyone who can honestly say this "I LOVE research and I LOVE being the first person to find out something new- knowing even before the PI... it's such a rush. " is probably a scientist, but I wonder, what's the definition?

[YT2095]

totally!

 

and yeah, there`s no other Buzz like it