But this thread isn't about "who has it worse?" It's about Neil DeGrasse Tyson's brilliant articulation of his experiences with entrenched bias within a system that has failed to aspire the aspirations of women and by extension African-Americans into the sciences. He speaks of his experience, which many can clearly relate to.
DeGrasse-Tyson speaks about an entrenched bias in "the system" that can hinder progress & thwart potential. That is all, ...and he does so quite brilliantly IMO.
And he is right!
Still, for foreigners it is difficult to imagine how bad the sexist and racist issues go in the USA, even now, and to what extend. We still get that old message that the USA is the land of opportunity, and if you fail it is only to blame on you. Apparently, only a few get opportunities...
Not saying Dutch education is better, because it is clearly not. Here we focus too much on the weakest students. They get not one, not two, not three, but over twenty chances to get a diploma. They get all the help they want (or not want) just to succeed. The schools also lower standards for those diplomas constantly, so most are worthless now.
In this process of helping the weakest, they forget all about students who could thrive, with just a little attention and motivation. There's just not enough time and money left to make those kids excel. If you're not a complete retard, you have to do it all on your own.
Just an example to show how low standards for diplomas are nowadays: students applying for a university study to become a teacher for primary schools, are so bad in Dutch, simple calculations, history, geography, biology and so on, that they would not even pass the exams on primary schools! And some students, despite their very poor test results, still DID GET THEIR TEATCHER'S DIPLOMA!
As a kid in middle school, I wanted to take "wood-working shop" class, but was instead routed into "Home-Ec" where they would teach us to cook & sew. All the girls in our class took home-ec, and during that same period, all the boys took "shop". Our education was steered along gender lines. I didn't want to take Home-Ec. I already knew how to cook & sew. I wanted to learn how to build things with wood, hammers, nails etc... That summer, I had helped my Dad, my Uncle, and their friends renovate one of the floors in our split-level basement, building a rec room, office, and additional full bathroom. I hammered, nailed, plastered, tiled, layed carpet... the whole works. It was great transforming raw space into functional living space. I wanted more, but because I was a girl, I was directed towards Home-Ec where I was bored stiff while the other girls were taught the various parts of a sewing machine. I already knew my way around a sewing machine, and had been sewing since the age of 7.
Girls in my high school always had a battle to get into auto-mechanics class in the 11th grade. They were driving, getting their licences etc., and wanted to learn about what was under the hoods of their own cars and how to fix them if necessary. It was always a battle to do so. I won't even get into the hellish experience it was for girls who wanted to pursue hockey.
I'm very sorry to hear that! If you've set your heart on it, you should be able to follow those classes.
In my time we had no home-ec or wood-working, but schools have something similar now. The first years everybody has to follow every class. So girls, too, have to learn about repairing electrical cords and boys also about cooking and sewing.
I honestly thought it was the same in every country, also the USA.