Dogs, Math, and Science

I recently had lunch with the Marketing Manager for a Silicon Valley two-year community college. We were discussing the quality of education in the Valley and she mentioned over 90% of the students in Science and Math (S&M) in her college are Asian-Americans. Asked why, she said most American kids are raised by their parents with fear of S&M, so they don't love S&M.

This reminds of my childhood in India where most kids are raised with fear of dogs, because so many of them (dogs, not kids!) are stray and carry diseases. I remember walking my (late) Springer Spaniel in my San Jose neighborhood. Whenever I ran into Indo-American kids, they always asked me, "Does she bite?" American kids always asked, "Can I pet her?"

Of course, thing are changing: Many second generation Indo-Americans love and have pets -- cats and dogs.