Hi Paul,

Yes, that might be part of the reason for the imbalance in numbers. More likely maybe, is the possibility that Indigenous kids here tend not to take the STEM-oriented paths as they come through secondary school, although so many of the university courses - especially the male-stereotyped ones - tend to require maths and/or sciences. And on the other hand, the courses which don't seem to require so much maths and sciences are female-stereotyped.

So Indigenous boys coming through secondary school perceive that they have far fewer options at university, while the girls don't feel such restrictions. So - and I'm sure it's similar in NZ for Maori and Polynesian girls - Indigenous female participation at universities here is actually a bit higher, for the relative population sizes, than the participation of NON-Indigenous male participation.

And of course, these days, female university participation generally is much higher than male participation, something like 58 % : 42 %. On the other hand, trades-type qualifications are greatly skewed in favour of males.

So Indigenous women's participation at universities is a good news story both here and in New Zealand !

I can't wait to hear about it from Indigenous education experts !

Cheers,

Joe

Hi Again Joe,

Speaking with the kids over the ditch, from a young age the boys take a much more negative attitude to school than the girls. Up north, the closest thing they have to aboriginal isolated communities, 3 hours from Auckland. The problem is opportunity, leave school with a low grade education, little to no work available, hang around all day on the benefit, boring. The nephew, was like that, ended up in jail, car stealing. "Did you steal cars for parts to sell?" "Nah uncle, we had cars, just for something to do uncle." How bloody stupid, his 3 sisters all do well for themselves. Go down to Auckland I say, "Nah, no whanau to stay with down there uncle, plenty up here." I like the bloke, he is always respectful to us, not that any of the kids would dare backchat aunty when she speaks they know they have to listen. Recently a niece told Aunty to piss off on Facebook, did she cop it from all sides, she wont do that again, much apology from niece. Her parents threatened to kick her out of home if she didn't change her attitude and show respect.

Hi Joe,

You're right we're all a mixed bunch.

I also enjoy watching - "Who Do You Think
You are". Amazing the mixture of ancestries
that people find.

My own families is quite diverse. From Russian,
Lithuanian, Scottish, English, German, Swedish,
Lebanese, and recently Vietnamese.

Who knows what the future holds for our grand-kids.
And what sort of mixes they will end up with.

Hi Paul,

I was ahead of my time in that I went on to tertiary
education and a career. However, along the way I met
my supportive husband who helped me with raising
our family so that I could continue with what I
wanted to do. I was lucky. And of course still am.
We shared our roles equally. Always have.

Support and encouragement made all the difference.

Foxy,

I think your husband is the lucky one :)

Best wishes,

Joe

So, you didn't like my metaphor, Foxy?

OK, how about the Seven Deadly Sins? Previous generations of your moral puritan caste of sanctimonious finger waggers claimed that all you needed to do to create a perfect world was to eradicate Pride, Greed, Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Anger, and Sloth. They failed, because everybody has these qualities, to one degree or another. It is not the "vice" itself it is the DEGREE to which people exhibit these very human characterises that defines their character. You are trying to add Racism to the list. Religious people would probably insist on Heresy and Blasphemy. Totalitarians would insist on Sedition.

Of course racist jokes are funny. So are political jokes, jokes about the sexes, religious jokes, and dirty jokes. Very religious Christian people would want to ban "The Life of Brian" because it was very offensive to their religion. But I am sure you would not want that to happen because you think it OK to insult religions. Totalitarian regimes ban jokes about themselves, but they can never stop people from making jokes about their incompetence and ineptitude. . Comediennes today talk of "the death of humour" because people like you get offended over anything. No wonder you are called "the snowflake generation." Your snowflake generation is even trying to ban "Gone with The Wind" and "Faulty Towers".

If you hate racism so much then write a criticism of a new and extremely racist article recently posted on OLO, entitled "The Mealy Mouthed Nature of Australian Life", by Malcolm King. King calls "baby boomers" (a euphemism for "whites") "spineless", "obsequious toadies", "self interested", "soggy beer nuts", and "mealy mouthed".

Now if King had described aborigines or Chinese with these same insulting terms, you would be hopping around in red faced apoplexy screaming "Racist!" "Racist!" "Racist!" Then you would report him to the Commissars of the HREOC Soviet. But you won't do any of these things because racism against white people is so pervasive, it is the new norm, and it is totally acceptable to your snowflake generation.

Who cares if white people get offended?

To Paul1405

Another very poor post from you. Of course I explained why I stopped being an anti racist and became a racist, because I was hoping to make you understand why your opponent thinks the way he does. But try as I might, I can't get a similar response from you.

If you think that racism is wrong, then you must think that all races are equal. That means you must think that they all have the same mental abilities, physical abilities, and personalities. I have asked you to explain to me by what objective reasoning you came the conclusion that all races were equal in every way, but you dodged it. A crucial question and you dodged it. That doesn't seem like the actions of a person who is confident that he can defend his opinions.

So I am putting it to you again. This time I expect an answer. If not, you are simply confirming to me that your opinion is not the result of objective reasoning, it is simply an article of unquestioning faith that was inculcated into you by your teachers, peers, and culture. They have succeeded in creating a mental border in your mind that you are too frightened to step over. If you had the courage to do that, you might discover something that you fear to know.

Ignorance is bliss, especially if you can well appreciate the consequences of being a heretic.