> My High school Electronics class had one woman out of 40 students.
>
> My college  graduating class had 400 EE's, three women.  One of them was,
> shall we put it politely, not too interested in men, lowering the odds
> considerably for us guys.

Unless you're an old-timer like myself, then things haven't improved much
since my college days.

> >Wouldn't an engineer analyze the problem and devise an appropriate
> solution?
>
> However, my Dance classes, Contra Dances, and other dance activites
> usually have 60% women.  That is why EE's should learn to dance.  Dancing,
> amazingly, can be quite mathematical at certain levels.  An appropriate
> solution indeed!

Square dancing! It's both mathematical and easy to learn. Not to mention
is was a *great* aerobic excercise.

> A common vocation is actually a big minus for a relationship.  Working for
> the same employer as your spouse is a huge minus.  Both of you can get
> laid off at the same time, and there is nothing to talk about but work at

It depends. My wife and I both work for Penn State, but for different
sub-units. While we occasionally talk about programming over the dinner
table, this is rare. I work on things at home; when Lee is home she doesn't
program at all.

> the dinner table.  Working at the same small business is a disaster for
> marriages, because every strain is a strain both at work and at home and
> when the small business goes South, so does the marriage.  So my advice:

Agreed. Both partners working for the same small business is a big strain
and risk. On the other hand, I've seen couples build a business together.

It depends on the people involved. I've also seen some pretty messy
divorces that came out of similar situations.
--
D. Jay Newman           !
jay@sprucegrove.com     ! Xander: Giles, don't make cave-slayer unhappy.
http://enerd.ws/robots/ !

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