A few years ago, I scolded an advisee of mine for pulling out of a leadership position (house president). Her reason was that she thought she had no chance of winning. Only one other person ran---and got the position by default. My advisee happened to be Black young woman. I told her that because of the history of our country and some facets of its current state, persons from certain demographic groups do not have the luxury to give up leadership positions. A few days ago, I saw a similar situation develop, but this time in an Honors Physics class. Upon researching some statistics, I found an article on "Who Gets 5's on AP Physics Exam" in the blog http://isteve.blogspot.com by Steve Sailer. (Disclaimer: I take no position on any view expressed by Sailer or his blog.)
I do not know Mr. Sailer nor any of his political, social, or intellectual leanings, but his article is interesting at least for the date. I have taken the following chart directly from his article. I take no credit for this.
| 5 on AP Physics C 2008 | ||||
| Male | Female | Sex Ratio | % of Total | |
| Total | 9,017 | 2,010 | 4.5 | 100.0% |
| White | 5,705 | 1,127 | 5.1 | 62.0% |
| Asian | 2,414 | 708 | 3.4 | 28.3% |
| Other | 316 | 69 | 4.6 | 3.5% |
| Not Stated | 199 | 57 | 3.5 | 2.3% |
| Other Hispanic | 177 | 32 | 5.5 | 1.9% |
| Mexican American | 98 | 7 | 14.0 | 1.0% |
| Black | 78 | 6 | 13.0 | 0.8% |
| Puerto Rican | 18 | 3 | 6.0 | 0.2% |
| American Indian | 12 | 1 | 12.0 | 0.1% |
So, it seems that Black girls who are taking Honors Physics can make a significant difference for those that come after them, by helping to change these numbers.
Again, the original article is at: http://isteve.blogspot.com/2010/07/who-gets-5-on-ap-physics-c-exam.html
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