Why are more speedcubers male than female?

[greentgoatgal]

Surely guys can't be that much more competitive.

Also, any estimates on the exact ratio?

 

[DGCubes]

Surely guys can't be that much more competitive.

Also, any estimates on the exact ratio?

As of the August 3rd WCA database export (I used it to find out which first names were the most common in the WCA), there were 71373 males and 7468 females who have competed officially, for a male:female ratio of about 90.5:9.5, or about 9.53:1. I think a lot of it is just because more guys are naturally into this sort of nerdy hobby.

Although, I definitely think the percentages would go up over time for females. That'd be an interesting graph.

 

[EmperorZant]

I remember reading that males (on average) have better spacial reasoning skills than females, so that's probably a contributor. And yeah, culturally, it's a nerdy hobby for sure.

 

[AlphaSheep]

I'm sure it's probably for the same reason that there are so few female engineers. Around the world, the general cultural perception is that the mathematical and technical fields are somehow more masculine. Because of this, toys and hobbies that involved more of a caring and nurturing aspect were perceived by society as "for girls", and toys and hobbies that were more challenging and technical were perceived as "for boys". It's really unfortunate that Rubik's cube falls into the boy's category.

I hope that by the time my children get to the age where they are ready to choose a career, that they can do so without having their dreams skewed by cultural perceptions of gender roles.

 

[obelisk477]

I think in general, men tend to be better at compartmentalization and segmentation, whereas women tend to be better at synthesis and integration. Both are great, but both have their strengths and weaknesses.

So if you apply that to cubing, and especially when first learning to cube, a guy may find it easier to chew through each individual step and focus on each one one at a time, whereas women may tend to focus on the effects on the whole, which is a particularly hard thing to do with a Rubik's cube.

Also, as for competitive speedsolving, I really think it does come down to competitive hormones. More testosterone = more competitive almost every time, even in studies where they've given women testosterone and men extra testosterone.

 

[WACWCA]

I don't necessarily think it's because men are smarter than women, because that gap is far too small to explain a near 10-1 ratio. The small amount of girls that compete also makes it less likely for more to join. It's most likely something do with culture somewhere along the line

 

[applezfall]

probably cause they dont care

 

[1973486]

Cary has the percentage "active" female cubers here.

 

[Mastermind2368]

I agree with everyone. I think that its something that males find more appealing then females. Why? Well I have thought about it and this is what I think. So when you talk to people and ask them, "How did you start cubing?" you get a few answers. Most of the common ones are things like, "A video on YouTube about the cube was in my recommended." or "My friend did it at school and I wanted to be cool like them." and, "I saw a cube in Walmart and decided to buy it." I am male, so I can't say for sure, but I have thought that females probably wouldn't want to learn because of one of those reasons. Also what someone else said, the more females into it, more females will want to start cubing. This is all just my opinion, so don't you don't need to say you disagree with me, I already know most of you probably do.

 

[pglewis]

My instincts say it's almost entirely cultural. Most of us aren't savants and require lots of practice to improve the spatial IQ specific to speedsolving and I believe that negates any slight gender advantage for spatial reasoning, if it exists.

 

[ComputerGuy365]

because its a nerdy hobby and girls typically arent interesting in it

just like how guys typically don't like dancing classes

 

[Gomorrite]

Cary has the percentage "active" female cubers here.

So the percentage of active female cubers is actually decreasing. Not good.

 

[One Wheel]

The issue of spatial reasoning makes some sense to me, on the other hand . . . .

I have 4 younger brothers and 5 younger sisters. 4 of the sisters and one brother (and one sister-in-law, back when she and my brother were just dating) have expressed interest in learning how to solve the cube, one sister, one brother, and the sister-in-law have taken the time to actually learn how to solve it, but none of them have the inclination to take up speedsolving. I have noticed that when people pick up cubes lying around the house guys are more likely to pick up standard cubes and the girls pick up shape mods.

 

[EmperorZant]

The issue of spatial reasoning makes some sense to me, on the other hand . . . .

I have 4 younger brothers and 5 younger sisters. 4 of the sisters and one brother (and one sister-in-law, back when she and my brother were just dating) have expressed interest in learning how to solve the cube, one sister, one brother, and the sister-in-law have taken the time to actually learn how to solve it, but none of them have the inclination to take up speedsolving. I have noticed that when people pick up cubes lying around the house guys are more likely to pick up standard cubes and the girls pick up shape mods.

This is a little off-topic, but your post reminded me of my 8-year old nephew and 6-year old niece, who both like my shapeshifting windmill 3x3 out of all my puzzles (especially when they make it look like a windmill).

 

[Micah Walker]

The issue of spatial reasoning makes some sense to me, on the other hand . . . .

I have 4 younger brothers and 5 younger sisters. 4 of the sisters and one brother (and one sister-in-law, back when she and my brother were just dating) have expressed interest in learning how to solve the cube, one sister, one brother, and the sister-in-law have taken the time to actually learn how to solve it, but none of them have the inclination to take up speedsolving. I have noticed that when people pick up cubes lying around the house guys are more likely to pick up standard cubes and the girls pick up shape mods.

And I thought my 6 kid Family was huge!

 

[One Wheel]

And I thought my 6 kid Family was huge!

Nah, that's nothing ;-). Seriously though, big families are cool. I have a friend from college who was the oldest of 12. When he got married his parents went and adopted 4 more.

 

[ComputerGuy365]

Nah, that's nothing ;-). Seriously though, big families are cool. I have a friend from college who was the oldest of 12. When he got married his parents went and adopted 4 more.

I would ****ing hate that lol. I am in a family of four and I feel like anymore would be too much. And what kind of parents want to raise 10+ children? I've honestly considered not having kids.

 

[FastCubeMaster]

I've always noticed women are more interested in Megaminx.
I remember pulling out my Megaminx and my mum said: "woah that's a cool one, that's my favourite".

 

[turtwig]

I've always noticed women are more interested in Megaminx.
I remember pulling out my Megaminx and my mum said: "woah that's a cool one, that's my favourite".

That's pretty interesting, considering that Megaminx is the only event that a female held a WR in. It also seems like the female preferring shape mods theory may be true. It might be a coincidence, but I found that the best female rank was very good in the non-cubic puzzles (2nd in Megaminx, 8th in Pyraminx, 3rd in Square-1). Clock was the only non-cubic puzzle where a female did not rank top 10. The other events where a female ranked top 10 was 3BLD and Skewb, and they ranked from around 20-40 in the other events.

 

[Malkom]

The brain structures of men and women are pretty different. Males tend to prefer mechanical/"dead" things and females are more social.
Of course culture plays a part but it's not like its the evil patriarchy that dumbs down women just for the lolz.